Sonic the Hedgehog: Tournament of the Stars
by The Brawler
Summary: Sonic the Hedgehog enters a tournament to win the Chaos Emeralds. But who's behind it all? OCs no longer needed.
1. Entering the Tournament

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 1: Entering the Tournament

It had been three months since Sonic had saved reality from Solaris with help from his friends. It also marked the same time he and Elise had confessed their love to each other. Of course, it wouldn't have worked out but Sonic had gotten over it and he was still close friends with the princess. He'd always visit her whenever he had the chance.

Anyway, the speedy hedgehog was touring the world once more after a recent victory over Eggman. As he was running, he zoomed past a billboard. Something on that caught his eye. He ran back and took a closer look at it. It was a flyer. Sonic began to read.

**Tournament of the Stars**

**Do you want to test your fighting skills against some of the best fighters in the world? Then come to the Emerald Sky Park and take part in the biggest fighting tournament in the world! Also, the winner will recieve the grand prize, the seven Chaos Emeralds! If you're interested, meet at Central City Airport at 3pm on the 13****th**** December.**

"A tournament, eh?" Sonic said to himself. "Sounds fun." He looked at the date once more and realised that today was the 13th.

"Guess I better get there fast!" he said and immediately took off. Little did he know that he was bound for another adventure. An adventure that would see him come face-to-face with friends old and new, as well as adversaries.

* * *

**Now comes the fun part. Being a tournament story, I will be looking for your OCs. At the moment the roster is as follows (it's pretty damn long):**

**Sonic the Hedgehog**

**Miles "Tails" Prower**

**Knuckles the Echidna**

**Amy Rose**

**Cream the Rabbit**

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

**Rouge the Bat**

**E-123 Omega**

**Silver the Hedgehog**

**Blaze the Cat**

**Cosmo the Seedrian**

**Shade the Echidna**

**Starbright (this character's backstory will be explained in this story)**

**Dr. Eggman**

**Metal Sonic**

**Mephiles the Dark**

**Nazo**

**Big the Cat**

**Tikal the Echidna**

**Chaos Zero**

**Espio the Chameleon**

**Charmy Bee**

**Vector the Crocodile**

**Jet the Hawk**

**Wave the Swallow**

**Storm the Albatross**

**Princess Elise**

**Mighty the Armadillo**

**Ray the Flying Squirrel**

**Fang the Sniper**

**Bean the Dynamite**

**Bark the Polarbear**

**Strike the Hedgehog (my OC)**

**Aqua Bubbles (my OC)**

**Axel the Hedgehog (my OC)**

**Sally the Hedgehog (my OC)**

**Larcen the Hegdehog (Sonic Phantom's OC)**

**Marisa (Sonic Phantom's OC)**

**

* * *

**

So far that's 38 fighters and I'm aiming for 64, 32 Sonic characters and 32 OCs, so you are allowed to submit up to four OCs. Use the sheet below to help:

Name:

Species:

Age:

Alignment: (good or evil)

Description:

Personality:

Abilities:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Extra info: (optional)

Send in your OCs and spread this story about. I don't want to end up asking people for use of their OCs. Once I've chosen the 30 I want, I'll update. See ya soon!


	2. Arrival and the Rules

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 2: Arrival and the Rules

Sonic arrived at the airport soon enough. He was surprised to see a huge number of people turn up. They didn't' look like fighters so he guessed they were just coming to watch. He bought himself a ticket and went to the lobby to wait for his flight. He was wondering where all the other fighters were as he sat in the lobby. There were several tourists but no one that looked like someone who was going to enter the tournament. He then noticed a huge crowd of people gathering under a banner that said "Tournament of the Stars". Sonic immediately walked over. He saw a spokesperson on a small podium in front of him. Looking about the crowd, he noticed several anthros. No doubt these were the fighters. He turned back to the speaker.

"I'm sure you all know why you're here, so I'll skip the intros. We'll board the plane shortly but there are a few things that must be said, especially to those who are interested in taking part" the speaker, a human girl in her late 20's, said. "As you board the plane, you must state whether you are a fighter or not. If you are, you'll be given a card with a number on it. That will be your fighter number and you must memorise it. When a fight begins, two numbers will be chosen randomly and the fighters with those numbers will fight, obviously."

As she spoke, Sonic looked around again. During his scanning, he noticed several people he recognized, including his friends. He would have to catch them on the plane, or at least at the park itself. His attention was then taken to one fighter in particular. It was an adult blue hedgehog with six contour quills, white gloves, a rope necklace around his right wrist, brown tattered boots and coat, a red sash around his waist and a red bandana on his head. He couldn't help but find that guy familiar. His attention was taken back when the speaker carried on.

"When we reach the Emerald Sky Park, you will be shown to a hotel where you'll be staying. Same goes for the spectators. You'll be allowed to check out the park in between fights and after a round is finished. If you wish to watch a fight, then there will always be a free seat. The stands are pretty big. Now, when it comes to fights, the loser is the first one who can no longer stand. There is, however, a no killing policy. Also, if anyone starts a fight outside the arena, they will be disqualified. I hope that explains everything. Now, let's get on the plane."

As everyone marched off, Sonic managed to catch up with his friends. Tails noticed him first.

"Guys, it's Sonic!" he alerted the others. Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Silver, Blaze and Cosmo turned round and all greeted the hedgehog.

"Hey, guys. Are you all entering the tournament?" he asked.

"You bet. It sounds fun" said Amy.

"Well, some of us are here for a good reason" replied Shadow.

Sonic turned to his look-a-like. "What does that mean?"

"Doesn't anyone find it weird that we've only just heard of this Emerald Sky Park? And what about the fact that whoever's running it has all seven Chaos Emeralds?" he asked.

They all looked at each other. Silver spoke first. "I suppose it's a bit suspicious. But we can only find out by getting up there."

The team nodded and they all boarded, each being given a number. Sonic looked at his and smirked. His was the number 1. As he sat down, he saw the hedgehog from before walk past. Sonic couldn't get him out of his head. Who was he? And how does he recognize him? Those thoughts were dismissed when he realised he was stuck next to Amy.

"This is going to be a long flight" he sighed to himself as the pink hedgehog began to hug him.


	3. The Other Fighters

**This introduces the Sonic characters. Next one will see the OCs. I have to do this as it'll be too long. After that, the fights begin!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 3: The Other Fighters

Having survived the flight, Sonic and the others marvelled as they stepped off the plane. When they were getting close, they saw that the park was literally a floating amusement park. There were loads of attractions that caught their eyes but what drew them most was the arena. It was like a metal version of the roman coliseum. The spokesperson wasn't kidding when she said the stands were huge.

"What do we do now?" asked Blaze.

"I suggest we find the hotel we're staying in. Then we'll just wait for the announcement for the first fight" Cosmo answered.

The others agreed and began to look for their hotel.

* * *

After unpacking their stuff (in some people's cases) the heroes looked around the park. Their main interest was seeing who the other fighters were.

Knuckles was so busy staring at how big the park was that he bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry" he said, as he looked at who he walked into. She was a peach coloured echidna wearing a black suit. When she saw Knuckles, she was taken aback, as was Knuckles.

"Shade? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I could be asking you that" she replied. "But if you must know, I'm trying to get the emeralds. In the wrong hands they're dangerous."

Knuckles nodded as the other heroes caught up. After introducing Shade to those who didn't know her, Silver asked a very embarrassing question.

"Hey Knuckles, are you two 'friends'?" he asked, using his fingers to indicate the quote marks. The echidnas immediately blushed before darting off in opposite directions.

"Nice one, Silv. You scared them both off" Sonic told him.

Blaze turned to her boyfriend. "You shouldn't ask questions like that!"

Silver apologised and promised to do the same when he next saw them. The team, minus Knuckles, began to continue looking for other fighters until they heard a clunking sound. Turning, they saw none other than Eggman in his Egg Walker.

"Eggman! What are you doing here?" demanded Sonic, as he and the others got ready to fight.

The doctor chortled. "No need to fear. I'm not conquering the world yet. I'm just here to win the emeralds. Plus, I'm a tad suspicious about how someone has managed to get all the emeralds so quickly."

"Guess we need to keep our eyes open" said Tails. Suddenly, a frog landed in his hands. It took the team a while to recognize it and by then, a huge purple cat had come out of nowhere and tackled Tails. The frog jumped out of the fox's hands before it was flattened. Tails wasn't as lucky.

The cat realised he had squashed someone and got back up, apologizing and grabbing the frog. The team knew who he was.

"BIG!" both Amy and Cream cried, as they hugged their old friend.

"Amy! Cream! I'm happy to see you again. And so is Froggy" the cat said.

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "Why is he here?" she asked.

"Don't underestimate Big" said Sonic. "He's good with a fishing rod and he's strong. I mean, look at Tails."

The young fox was badly bruised and immediately made Rouge pray she didn't have to fight Big. Eggman left and Amy and Cream went off with Big, leaving the party a bit smaller.

* * *

As they walked around, they saw Knuckles and Shade again, talking with another echidna girl and a water creature. These were Tikal and Chaos. The team ran up and after quick introductions, Knuckles asked why and how they were here.

"Chaos noticed that something was up so we left the Master Emerald and came to stop whatever's happening" Tikal explained.

Shade began to think. "Whoever's behind this is very clever. Could it be Eggman?"

"Nah, old Eggy's competing too" stated Sonic.

"We need someone to look into this, like a detective" said Silver.

"Did someone say 'detective'?"

Everyone jumped in surprise as a green crocodile appeared out of nowhere.

"Vector! You scared us to death!" yelled Knuckles.

"Well, I just overheard you talking and…" He stopped when he noticed Cosmo, who was holding Tails after being taken surprise.

"Oh my God! Espio, Charmy! Get over here!" he yelled to a purple chameleon in ninja attire and a bee.

"What is it, Vector? Have you found your common sense?" Espio asked.

"Not yet" replied Vector. "But look. Cosmo's alive and she's with Tails!"

"So…" Charmy gestured.

Vector slapped himself. "It means they're together!"

"Yeah, without our help. I told you they could handle it alone" said Espio.

Vector scoffed. "Please. I clearly gave them the extra push, being an expert on romance!"

"You can't even ask Cream's mum out!" Charmy yelled. He regretted it. The heroes stared as Vector chased after Charmy, shouting death sentences at him, while Espio waved goodbye as he followed them.

"Those guys are weird" said Blaze.

"You get used to it" replied Shadow.

The team then heard another voice. One that definitely caught Sonic's attention.

"Well, look who it is. Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic turned and his reaction was a mixture of surprise and smugness. "Jet the Hawk. Long time no see!"

Jet, accompanied by a purple swallow and a grey albatross, faced the team. Tails and Knuckles stood next to Sonic as they faced their respective rivals.

"How's it going, shorty?" Wave asked.

"Good until you guys showed up" Tails replied.

Storm cracked his knuckles. "Oh, I hope I fight you, echidna!"

"Likewise" Knuckles said, readying his fists.

"Guys, there's no need to break into a fight" Sonic said, stepping between the two teams, before turning to Jet.

"Decided to take a break from Extreme Gear?" he asked.

"Well, I heard that the emeralds are up for grabs so I decided to take part. I want to see how good a fighter you are, so don't disappoint me" Jet smirked, as he and his teammates walked up.

"I look forward to it" Sonic shouted at them, as his team walked off. As they walked off, they spotted Sonic's old friends Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. After a quick chat, Sonic told them that the Chaotix were nearby and the two waved goodbye as they searched for their old friends. They even caught Fang the Sniper, Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polarbear talking in secret. They left them to it. The team decided to check out the concession stand as they met up with Amy, Cream and Big.

Sonic was waiting for his soda as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and was surprised to meet a pair of legs. Looking up, he saw a teenage girl with red hair wearing a green shirt, black tights, blue trainers and black fingerless gloves. Sonic didn't recognize her at first but quickly knew who it was.

"Elise! How have you been?" he asked, receiving a hug from his old friend. The rest of the team all gave their greetings to her and she returned them.

"It's good to see you all again" she said.

"Why did you enter the tournament? I'm guessing that would be the reason for why you're dressed like that" asked Amy.

"I was getting bored so I decided to enter. It took a while to convince Smit but I managed it" the princess replied.

Shadow then got a nasty trick in his head and said to Sonic "Hey, what do you think of Elise's get-up?"

Not really paying attention, Sonic said "Well, she looks beautiful and…" He stopped and glared at Shadow who was giggling. Elise was blushing while everyone else didn't know what he was talking about. They got more confused when Sonic began to chase Shadow around in circles.

* * *

As they did that, two figures in the shadows were watching them. Well, they were watching Shadow. One of them was unrecognizable. They wore a black mask and armour, a bit like Shade's, but they had flowing blonde hair out of the back of their head, indicating that it was a girl. The other was Mephiles, Shadow's arch-enemy.

"There he is, Starbright" he said. "Remember, we can't lose this tournament. And if you're lucky enough to get the chance, I want you to deal as much pain as you possibly can" he said.

"Don't worry. I haven't forgotten the deal" Starbright replied. "We will win this and you will have revenge on Shadow."


	4. New Rivals

**This took forever! I'm glad it's finally over. Now we can focus on the fights! By the way, read chapters 2 and 3 if you missed them. I replaced them.**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally are owned by me**

**Other OCs are owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 4: New Rivals

As Sonic was chasing Shadow, he got zapped from behind. He turned round and saw his half brother, Strike with Aqua Bubbles next to him.

"Strike! Aqua! It's been ages. How's it going with you two?" he asked.

"Oh, it's amazing!" replied Aqua. "I had no idea that the world was so beautiful. Strike has shown me so much." As she spoke, Strike was blushing.

"Well, you deserve it. After all, the world hasn't seen how beautiful you look" he said, getting him a kiss from his girlfriend. Sonic felt like gagging but decided against it. After all, he was in love once.

Unfortunately, Strike and Aqua's moment was interrupted when another familiar voice was heard.

"Well, if it isn't the abomination."

Strike turned and came face to face with Axel, who was clearly not happy to see him. Next to him was Sally who scolded him.

"Axel, don't be mean" she told her brother as she gave Strike and Sonic a hug each.

"What are you two doing here? Are you entering the tournament?" asked Cream.

Strike cracked his knuckles. "Oh I hope they are. So then maybe I can show Scruffy here a thing or two!"

"You wanna fight? Could've just asked!" Axel retaliated, pulling his sword out. Tikal stepped between them.

"Now, we don't have to solve this by violence. I'm sure there's another way" she said.

Axel put his sword away. "Fine. I'll just save my strength for the tournament" he snarled, turning away.

Sally was about to chase after him before turning back to Sonic and saying "By the way, mum is going to watch. She's having a hard time getting here but she promises to get here before it's over."

Sonic nodded. He hadn't seen his mum in a long time either. Perhaps she could convince Axel to give Strike a break. Speaking of which, Strike decided to go do something to take his mind of Axel. Aqua suggested something in his ear which only he heard. Last the team saw of him he was rushing back to the hotel with Aqua in tow.

* * *

As the heroes, ate and drank, they saw several people come and go. The first two were a dark blue hedgehog with green eyes, white gloves, blue sneakers and a green necklace and a human girl with long red hair, a green shirt, brown gloves, green boots and a miniskirt that reached knee length. Sonic decided to start a conversation.

"Hey, I'm Sonic. What are your names?" he asked the hedgehog. He didn't reply. Sonic was wondering what was wrong with him when the human spoke.

"Don't mind him. He's not good at talking to new people. I'm Marisa Harmon and this is Larcen."

Elise decided to join in the conversation. She hadn't seen any other humans here apart from those that were watching. "Hi. I'm Elise" she said.

Marisa recognized her instantly. "You're the princess of Soleanna! I can't believe this. Are you taking part as well?" she asked.

Elise nodded. "I've been training myself to fight. I'm not the best in the world" she said.

Marisa smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine."

She and Larcen decided to leave but Larcen looked back at Sonic once more. He finally spoke, "Watch yourself, hedgehog. If you hurt Marisa, I'll make you wish you were never born."

Sonic stared in shock as Larcen walked off. Elise stood next to him. "What's his problem?" she asked.

Sonic shrugged but a few cogs in his brain started whirring. He looked at Larcen and Marisa one last time and a thought came to his head. Larcen wasn't… He'd have to find out.

Another hedgehog appeared, this one an adult female. She had purple fur, golden eyes, black gloves, a black Chinese style dress, a white undershirt and brown boots.

"Don't mind Larcen, pal. He's always like that. I'm Kera" she said, shaking hands with Sonic.

Omega saw the sword on her back and scanned it. "Sword identified as the Dragon Sword" he said.

Knuckles overheard this. "Dragon Sword? Wasn't that used to kill the Black Dragon, thousands of years ago?"

Kera turned round to reply but seeing Knuckles, she began to blush. "Uh, yeah. I found it and have been using it ever since. I was hoping to kill the leader of the Black Arms with it."

"Well, you're a bit late. Shadow took care of him" Knuckles said, indicating the black hedgehog.

Kera shrugged. "Well, I can still look for my brother. I thought he might be here or I could use the emeralds to find him" she explained, slightly disheartened.

Knuckles felt sympathy. "You'll find him. I'm sure of it."

Kera blushed again and bid farewell. Amy had a faint idea of Kera's feelings to the red echidna but kept her mouth shut. Shade was keeping an eye on the purple hedgehog and seemed a bit miffed.

* * *

Shadow, after overhearing Kera's hatred for the Black Arms, thought back to when he killed him. He shuddered.

"Boy, those memories still freak me out. Good thing I wiped those Black Arms out when I had the chance" he said to Rouge.

"What?" a voice said.

Turning, Shadow saw a black owl with a black magician's hat, silver gauntlets, a hard blue plated chest that covered his body, dark blue boots, a blue cape and green eyes that reminded Shadow of Mephiles.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Rothion the Owl, loyal to Black Doom. You must be Shadow the Hedgehog. I've heard about you. How you destroyed the Black Arms" the owl said, staring at Shadow with a look that could kill. "I was hoping I could meet you, so I could kill you. If we fight in the tournament, I'll be sure to deal as much pain as possible."

Rothion walked off, with Shadow staring after him. Rothion was with Black Doom? He'd have to see to him when this was all over.

* * *

Silver and Sonic were having a discussion (well, Silver was actually interrogating him about him and Elise) when they were interrupted by a familiar tanuki, one that Sonic was freaked out by.

"H-hey, Chrono" Sonic said, nervously, remembering how badly he was injured when they fought.

"Hello, Sonic. And you too, Silver" Chrono said, sounding serious.

Silver became suspicious. "Why are you here? Wasn't the future saved?"

"Yes but GUE sent me back here because of this tournament. They said something would happen here so I entered to find out what's going on. I promise that if we fight, Sonic, I won't nearly kill you. But I may badly injure you."

The tanuki strolled off, leaving a very scared Sonic. He nearly wet himself. Silver suggested he take his mind off it so Sonic decided to talk with Amy. That would definitely take his mind off it. To his surprise, she was talking to a brown hedgehog with unusual black streaks all over his body, five quills are arranged so that his middle one goes straight down, two side ones arcing down to the shoulders, and his last two going straight out, a slightly deeper colored muzzle, and burning amber eyes, black gloves with cuffs around them, and boots with yellow and green lines going around the bottom.

"Sonic, I'd like you to meet someone. This is my cousin, Gemini" the pink hedgehog introduced.

Gemini stared at Sonic. "I understand you and my sister are an item" he said, with a deadly look on his face.

Sonic began to stutter. "N-no. We're just friends. Amy, seriously, stop telling everyone we're a couple, coz we're not!"

Gemini seemed to relax a bit. "Well, I hope we fight, Sonic. I've heard a lot and I want to see how good you are" he said, darkly. Something about him seemed to scare Sonic more than Chrono. Amy decided to save him by telling her cousin there was a casino on the other side of the park. For the first time, Sonic was stunned to see someone run as fast as him.

The two went back to the group. Silver was surprised to see Sonic wasn't any less worried. Sonic meanwhile was busy writing his will in his head. He was wondering what he could leave Blaze when Amy screamed.

"What? What is it?" he asked, looking for any sign of a threat. Amy wasn't listening. She was trying to catch a purple hedgehog's attention. She wore a black t-shirt with a single dark-silver stripe up the sides; trousers with an identical colour scheme, white gloves and a pair of Extreme Gear skates. She also had one quill that droops over her left eye, blocking part of it. Upon noticing Amy, she immediately ran over, or skated really.

"Amy! How have you been?" the hedgehog girl asked, clearly ecstatic about seeing her.

"Oh, I've been fine. How about you, sis?" Amy replied, casuing Cosmo to turn.

"Sis?" she asked, confused.

"Dusk here is my sister. Well, not biologically. Eggman made her using my DNA, so we consider ourselves sisters" Amy explained.

Omega retracted his claws and pulled his guns out. "All Eggman creations must be destroyed!"

Shadow jumped in front of his robot comrade. "Omega, don't! Dusk is on our side!" he told Omega. Since he could trust Shadow, Omega replaced his guns with his claws. Dusk blushed due to Shadow defending her.

"Well, I hope I do well in this tournament" she said.

Amy smiled. "I'm sure you'll do fine." Dusk smiled back.

* * *

Tails picked up a chilli dog that he bought and was about to take a bite when an arrow came out of nowhere and hit a nearby post, with Tails' food on the other end. Stunned, the fox turned to see three figures.

The one who was holding the bow was a white wolf with long silver hair tied in a ponytail by a blue bow, a bluish grey muzzle, a sky blue tunic, a white sash around her torso, brown boots and gauntlets, and a silver shoulderplate on her left shoulder.

The second one was another white wolf with long silver hair ,green eyes, a bluish grey muzzle, purple robes with a gold sash around his torso, a white cloak and brown boots and gauntlets.

The third one was a cat with deep purple fur with a light purple tail tip and a white muzzle, deep purple hair, blue robes, a green cloak and white boots.

The second wolf said "Nice shot, Amelia."

The first one replied "Thanks, Matty."

"It's Mathias!"

The cat stopped the argument by saying "You may have hit the target but you've peeved that guy off."

They turned and saw Tails, angrily trying to get his food of the arrow. As he did that, Cosmo turned to them.

"Who are you three?" she asked.

The first wolf handled the introductions. "I'm Amelia. This is my brother, Mathias and our friend Blitz."

Cosmo bowed to all three. "I take it you three are entering the tournament.

Blitz nodded. "You bet. It sounds like fun. Plus I need a challenge."

"You could've asked me" said Mathias.

"He said a challenge, Matty" Amelia joked.

"It's MATHIAS!!!"

Cosmo watched the siblings running off and bid Blitz farewell, who sighed and decided to go stop the squabble.

* * *

Elsewhere, a yellow hedgehog with red quills, crimson red gloves, black shoes with a blue stripe down the middle with lightning on the sides. He was sitting on a bench, enjoying the peace. Cream noticed he was sitting alone and decided to join him.

"Hello" she said, cheerily.

The hedgehog turned to the rabbit and smiled. "Hello. What's your name?"

"I'm Cream and this is my chao Cheese" she replied, with Cheese chirping, happily.

"I'm Ozone the Hedgehog. If you're taking part in the tournament, be on your guard. It'll be tough but don't let that put you down. Just do your best" Ozone told her.

Cream nodded and thanked him for the advice. She rejoined the group. As they sat there, still waiting for the tournament to start, two new figures approached.

One was a purple tiger with a blue armour vest, black gloves, black trousers and black shoes. He also wore a scanner and a funny looking watch.

The other one was an orange fox wearing a grey leather shirt, blue shorts, black gloves and brown shoes. He wore a water cannon on his right arm.

"Hey, are you guys in the tournament?" the tiger asked.

"Yeah, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog" the blue hero said.

"I'm Armand Novak the Tiger and this is Basil Giles" the tiger said.

Sonic nearly choked on his food. "Novak? As in Tobias Novak?"

"I take it you've heard of him" chuckled Armand.

Tails stared at the watch on Armand's wrist. "Is that the watch he made?"

"Yep. It can do nearly everything. Except tell the time" the tiger explained.

"Why?" they all asked.

"Because there wasn't enough room for a clock" Armand replied sheepishly.

Basil nudged his friend. "Hey, maybe they know something about Nega" he suggested.

Sonic and Blaze's attention perked up. "Nega? How do you guys know him?" Sonic asked.

"Nega killed our dads and we heard a rumor that he's involved with this tournament" explained Basil.

"I highly doubt Nega's involved. He's busy spending a lifetime in jail in my world" Blaze told them.

Taken aback, the two sighed. "Guess I'll never get revenge" Armand said.

"Hey, look on the bright side. At least he can't hurt anyone anymore" Sonic told them.

"I suppose" Armand replied.

Basil became distracted for a while, just looking around until he saw someone.

"Armand, heads up!"

The tiger turned, wondering what his friend meant when he was dog piled by a cheetah with blue hair, black markings on her white muzzle, a heart spot on her forehead, white gloves with blue square patches, a white tank top, light blue jeans and white shoes with blue gem circles on the sides. What was weird was the blue gem imbedded in her navel.

She was joined by a red tiger with black stripes, blue fingerless gloves, white shoes with blue outlines and a silver jetpack. Armand pushed the cheetah off of him and brushed himself down.

"Emily! Stop dog piling me!" he said.

"C'mon, you know you like it" the cheetah said.

Blaze asked, "Armand, who are these two?"

"This is Alan the Tiger" Armand gestured to the other tiger who waved, "And this is Emily Leot the Cheetah. She's my…" He stopped trying to find the right words but Emily finished it for him.

"Girlfriend."

"Yeah, girlfriend."

Alan spoke "I tried to stop her but you know what she's like."

"What the hell does that mean?" asked Emily, sounding quite annoyed.

"Emily, calm down. C'mon, let's go do something nice and calming" Armand soothed, relaxing the cheetah. The two went off somewhere, while Basil and Alan decided to go see more of the park.

* * *

Watching the heroes from a dark area were a robotized echidna with 8 dreads with one covering is left eye, which is a red robot eye, two black metal fists, maroon fur with his robotized parts a blue-silver colour, with the top left half of his head, arms, legs, feet and right of chest robotized and a mark on his chest which resembles a spiked cog and his comrade, a hedgehog with jade fur, 3 pronged crest on his forehead like Silver's, 2 quills like Shadow's with purple highlights and another 2 quills like Silver's underneath, a tuft of fur around his neck and chest, white gloves with emerald encrusted golden rings and silver and green boots.

The echidna said "Just imagine how much money I'd get if I captured all those guys. Eh, Havoc?"

The hedgehog turned to him. "Look, Zero. That's not the reason why we're here. We're here for the emeralds. They need to be kept safe."

"What if you-know-who turns up?" Zero asked.

"Then things will get interesting" Havoc smirked.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, a robotic duplicate of Havoc, which looked like Neo Metal Sonic, was watching them. He clenched his fists. "Havoc. I swear I'll kill you!"

* * *

As the group continued talking, they saw two anthros that grabbed their attention. One was a golden dog with black contacts covering his eyes. The hair on top of his head was very messy and he had one bang in the shape of a boomerang. He wore black and white sneakers with the tongues hanging out, black jeans, a white sleeveless hoodie, a black bandana around his neck and a pair of black sunglasses.

The other one was a yellow hedgehog with black highlights in his quills that were in a similar style to Shadow's. He also wore black contacts, yellow and black sneakers, black jeans, a yellow polo shirt with black diagonal stripes, a black fingerless glove on his right hand and several bandages covering his whole left arm.

Sonic was nervous about starting a conversation. So far he'd been given several death threats so Shadow took over.

"Hey, I'm Shadow. Who are you two?"

The dog seemed a bit chattier than the hedgehog who stood there in silence.

"Why, I'm Damien Christian Angels! I'm surprised you've never heard of me. Oh and the quiet dude is Mario. Ain't that right?" he turned to his friend who simply nodded.

"He's awfully quiet" Shadow stated.

"Yeah, he's had a rough time but he's a great fighter. Not as good as me of course but still when he gets rolling, watch out!" Damien exclaimed, failing to notice that Mario walked off. When he found out, Damien chased after him, giving a hasty goodbye to Shadow.

* * *

As Sonic took a sip of his drink, he noticed the Babylon Rogues coming towards them. Tails and Knuckles got edgy, expecting them to start something but they walked past and confronted two other figures that arrived.

The first one was a crow with course black feathers with white tattooed flames on his wrists, yellow crooked beak with grey lining around his eyes. His head feathers were in a ponytail with two feathers coming down to his shoulders and a long bunch of four feathers cropped together in a wild row for a tail. He wore a red cardinal's uniform with a white under cloak. He also wore red gloves.

The other one was a black falcon with wry feathers on his head that fall to his back and a straight tail that reaches the backside of his knees. He wore a long blue robe with a white sash around his waist, metal gauntlets, and a belt under his robe for his sheath and sword and black sandals with cotton white socks.

The Rogues stared at the avians opposite them. The two stopped walking and the crow spoke.

"Look who it is. A bunch of solar scum!" he mocked.

"You're one to talk, lunar trash!" Jet retaliated, pulling out his fans.

Sonic jumped between them. "Hey, let's not start something here."

"Stay out of this, Sonic! This between me and Cesare!" Jet yelled.

The falcon smirked. "Don't bother trying to fight. You'll only get disqualified."

"Well, when the tournament starts, we'll be sure to deal as much pain as possible!" challenged Wave.

"Yeah, if you're as easy to beat as Rodrigo…" Jet started but Cesare interrupted.

"You leave him out of this! C'mon, Tagio. The smell of solar scum is making me sick!" He strolled off as the falcon followed him, making a backwards glance.

Storm waved his fist at them. "Run, lunar trash! RUN!" The three Rogues walked off in the opposite direction. Sonic and co. had no idea what that was about but decided against it.

* * *

Watching the fight was another tanuki. His fur was completely black, except for the red rings around his ears. His muzzle fur was black, like the rest of his fur, though at the stray strands near the sides of his mouth, specs of red are visible. His eye colour could be described as a fiery orange. He had two simple locks of hair drooping from the sides of his head, and three locks protruding from his forehead and drooping to the right. His tail was quite bushy, though not overly long, and had crimson rings around it, like his ears. For clothing he wore a black and purple striped long sleeved shirt, which had a large red circle on the chest. He wore a red tie around his neck, along with a necklace which had a black flame symbol on it. He wore a pair of black trousers, and a crimson red leather belt at his waist. He wore a simple pair of slim white gloves, along with a pair of black skate shoes. He had seen the commotion and smirked.

"This will be an interesting tournament" he said to himself. Suddenly, he got a call from his mobile and answered.

"Crisis, it's Aero. Has it started yet?" the voice asked.

"Not yet but the competition is certainly interesting" Crisis replied.

"Well don't forget, you have to find out who's behind it. They may know something. Aero out." Crisis hung up and proceeded to check out the park some more.

* * *

Sonic was getting very bored. He needed to fight something and the tournament was still showing no signs of starting. He sighed wishing for something to happen. Something did.

He heard a hissing sound. At first he thought a balloon was letting out air but he felt something tickling his neck. Turning he came face to face with a brown snake with a few black stripes and yellow eyes. He wore an unbuttoned, grey trench coat, white gloves and black boots.

You'd expect Sonic to be taken aback. He wasn't. His face turned as white as a sheet as he backed away from the snake, tripping over in his haste.

The snake sniggered. "Oh, good. Someone I've already scared."

Silver stepped forward. "What's your problem, pal?"

The snake turned to face him. "I'm Alexander and I've come for the emeralds. They'll help me deal as much pain to the world as I can!" he hissed, malevolently.

Silver was about to retaliate but the snake was already leaving, making one last look at Sonic. As the blue hedgehog got back up, Elise walked up to him.

"What's the matter? You nearly passed out" she said, slightly worried.

"Sorry. I just don't like snakes" Sonic explained, shuddering at the thought.

Another voice spoke. "It's OK. Everyone has a fear of something."

Sonic faced the speaker. It was the hedgehog he saw at the airport. The one he thought he'd seen somewhere.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Gale the Hedgehog. King of Pirates!" Gale exclaimed.

"Pirates? We don't like pirates!" Everyone turned to see Strike, who had come back with Aqua, as well as Axel and Sally.

"Well, I'm not an evil pirate. Sure I steal but I don't kill anyone" Gale defended, staring at Axel.

"Well, prove it" challenged Knuckles.

Suddenly, a commotion was heard. Everyone went to check it out and saw two figures arguing. One was an echidna while the other was a hedgehog, both adults. Another figure, a female fox, stood there watching. These three grabbed Tails, Knuckles and Amy's attention.

"Look, I told you to stop spending so much on rum!" yelled the hedgehog.

"Thorn, I didn't spend that much" the echidna defended.

"You bought 10 jugs of it, Wrist!"

"But once we win the emeralds and sell them, we'll get the money back plus more."

"What if we don't?!"

Gale stepped in. "Will you guys stop fighting! Sheesh, every day you manage to argue about something. Kyira and I are sick of it."

The fox just stood there. Sonic noticed that she had nine tails that reminded him of Tails. It was then he noticed the surprised expressions on his friends' faces.

"What's up with you three?" he asked.

The crew all turned and several things happened. It sort of went like this:

"Amy?"

"Dad!"

"Knuckles?"

"Dad?"

"Kyuta?"

"Mum!"

Now, Sonic was confused.

"What the hell?" was all he could say as some sort of family reunion emerged in front of him.

After all the hugs stopped, an explanation was needed. Sonic was stunned.

"So, your dad, your dad and your mum are all pirates and are with Gale?" he asked.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, I haven't seen mum in years."

Kyira seemed to go soft as she hugged her son. "I'm happy to know you're alright, Kyuta" she said.

Cosmo walked up and bowed. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Cosmo."

Tails blushed. "Yeah, Cosmo and I are… You know."

Kyira raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Knuckles and his dad were discussing about how their lives were while Amy just hugged her dad.

Silver began to chuckle. "You know it's funny. Tails' mum, Knuckles' dad and Amy's dad are all in a pirate crew. Wouldn't it be funny, Sonic, if your dad was…"

He stopped when he saw Sonic's face. "Oh, I forgot. Sorry."

"Why? What happened?" asked Thorn.

Axel stepped forward. "Our dad was killed by pirates. Sonic blames himself for it."

Sally began to hug her brother. "Aw, Sonic. You need to let it go" she told him. Sonic simply nodded.

Gale was interested in this. And the name, Sonic. He couldn't be… He looked at the other three, who all looked as interested as Gale did. Before he could ask anything else, a voice was heard over an intercom.

"Could everyone come to the stadium. The first round is about to begin."

Everyone immediately stopped the chat and proceeded to the stadium. The tournament had begun!


	5. Round 1 Part 1

**Before we start I just want to let people know I chose the fights at random. Some are interesting and no doubt will keep you entertained. I've already chosen the overall winner but during this story, I don't want any comments accusing me of favouritism. OK? Good. Let's get moving.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 5: Round One Begins

As fighters and spectators alike entered the stadium, everyone was thinking the same thing. Who would fight who? Most of the fighters were nervous, especially Sonic. After all, several people had given him warnings.

As they entered, the spokesperson from the airport began to speak through a megaphone.

"All fighters are to pick up a leaflet so they know which fights they're in. The fighter number opposite yours belongs to your opponent. The first two fighters are to report immediately to the waiting area. They are numbers 34 and 21."

Sonic's eyes noticed Aqua looking extremely nervous. By the looks of it, she was fighting first. Strike was consoling her, no doubt telling her she would do fine. The watery hedgehog eventually got the nerve to follow the spokesperson's hand and prepare to fight while everybody else took their seats.

* * *

The inside of the stadium was just as big as the outside. Sonic and his friends managed to grab front seats. The arena itself was a simple square, with doors leading off to the left and right. That was where the fighters probably entered. The blue hedgehog opened the leaflet he grabbed and looked through it. He saw that his fight wouldn't begin for a while. He was going up against number 63. He had several people that he hoped weren't this number. His thoughts were interrupted when a voice was heard over an intercom. This one was sort of cheery and sounded like a sports commentator.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the first round of the Tournament of the Stars!" it cried, resulting in a huge cheer. "Before our first two fighters emerge, I'd just like to say that when your fight is about to begin, you are to report to the waiting area. My employees will show you the way."

Sonic noticed Chrono stand up and walk off. He must be next. He didn't see who else went. All he cared about was the fact he wouldn't have to fight him. Suddenly, the commentator was heard again.

"Now, let us meet our first two contenders! First off, she's a young girl with powers over water who will no doubt fight her way to the top. Give it up for Aqua Bubbles!"

Sonic and co. cheered as loud as they could for her, especially Strike. Aqua was clearly nervous from all the attention she was getting. She trudged on slowly, worrying about who she would be fighting.

The commentator spoke again, causing the cheers to stop. "And her opponent, the elusive ninja of the Chaotix Detective Agency, it's Espio the Chameleon!"

More cheers were heard as the ninja walked on. He didn't mind the attention but didn't wave. He was here to fight. Of course, he wasn't expecting Aqua. The girl was shaking as she glanced at Espio. After hearing he was a ninja, she was more nervous than before. She got into a fighting position, trying to fight her nervousness. Espio returned it.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you badly, but I won't be going easy on you" he said.

Aqua gulped. "I-I'm not nervous. I-it's not like you can go invisible or anything" she replied.

Espio smirked. "You'd be surprised." With those words, the chameleon did what he does best, disappear.

Aqua's eyes began to dart all over the place, trying to find out where the chameleon could be. She failed as she was kicked in the back and sent sprawling across the floor. She quickly jumped up but still no sign of Espio. She then saw some shuriken come out of nowhere. She used the athletic ability to avoid them but a kunai tripped her up in mid-air. As she crashed into the ground, she felt someone lift her up and punch her repeatedly in the stomach. She retaliated by shooting water out of her mouth. While the crowd found it disgusting, she managed to get Espio wet, revealing him.

She broke out of his hold on her and spin-kicked him in the gut. Even though he was still invisible, the water was still dripping off of him, rendering his camouflage useless. Deciding to fight face to face, Espio ditched his camouflage and made several jabs at Aqua. She tried dodging but Espio was too fast and hit several pressure points, quickly weakening her. She fell to the floor but Espio kicked her back up, jumping after her and swinging his leg down to send her crashing into the ground.

Aqua wasn't prepared to go down easily and weakly got back up. Espio was impressed with her being able to withstand that much damage. He was surprised though when she pulled out a canister of water. Focusing all her power on it, the water broke out of the canister and formed into several watery arrows that she fired at Espio. He was too taken aback to dodge them. They cut across his body which hurt him a lot but they splashed as they hit the side. Espio pulled out several kunai, thinking that her only powerful attack was gone. He was wrong. The water hadn't evaporated and formed into a watery drill which hit Espio from behind. It splashed with such force that Espio was flung towards Aqua who reeled back her leg and slammed her heel into Espio's gut, knocking him across the ground. He tried to stand back up but failed.

"Espio can no longer fight, making Aqua the winner!" the commentator blared. The crowd cheered, but Strike, Amy and Rouge completely drowned them out. Aqua was still surprised that she won. By the time she registered it, she quickly ran to help Espio up.

As she helped the chameleon stand, she said "Sorry about that."

Espio smirked. "No need. I'm impressed by your abilities and it takes a lot to do that. Perhaps you'd like some training. Being a ninja has qualities."

Aqua said she'd think about it. She had to admit, ninja like skills would increase her battle skills. As the two followed two employees to the medical ward, the commentator spoke again.

"Anyone is allowed to visit fighters in the ward but must report back here for their fight. Now, remember, if your fight is after this one, you need to head over to the waiting area" it reminded.

Amy noticed Dusk stand up and head off. She caught her eye and the two sisters exchanged waves. Thorn noticed this.

"Amy, who is that girl?" he asked his daughter.

"Oh, that's Dusk. She's, erm, kind of my sister" Amy said and explained to a surprised Thorn how Dusk came to be. Afterwards, Thorn said "Well, I suppose I should welcome her to the family next time I see her."

* * *

The commentator went back to introducing. "Now for our next fighters. First off, a time-travelling agent from GUE, it's Chrono the Tanuki!"

Chrono walked on, carrying his claymore, completely ignoring the cheers. He was too busy focused on who his opponent was.

"And his opponent, the muscle of the Babylon Rogues and one of the sturdiest Extreme Gear Riders out there, it's Storm the Albatross!"

Jet and Wave cheered for their friend as he walked into the arena. He seemed pretty cocky about winning.

The two fighters stared each other down before Chrono said "I hope you're a worthy opponent."

"Me too. It's been a long time since I've clobbered anyone not in a race. I've missed the sound of bones cracking" Storm replied.

"That could just be the sound of your brain breaking" Chrono mocked. Storm was easily angered by this and threw a punch that hit Chrono so hard, he was sent all the way into the wall, leaving a mark on it. As the tanuki peeled himself off the wall, Storm ran at him, preparing to swing his fist again. However Chrono stopped time, causing Storm to stand completely still. Using this, Chrono ran at his opponent and swung his claymore up. Time started again as Storm was thrown up into the air. But the albatross wasn't out yet. Turning in the air, he made himself fly straight down, ready to crush Chrono under his girth. But Chrono was smart. He rolled out of the way in time and used Time Booster to swipe past Storm with such speed that cuts and bruises appeared all over Storm's body.

The albatross was finding it hard to stay standing but so was Chrono. After all, using his time attacks took a lot out of the agent. Storm saw Chrono's moment of weakness and ran as fast as he could; ready to ram his head into him. But Chrono didn't even need to use Time Foresee to know that was coming. Bringing his claymore up, Chrono swung it into Storm's gut, sending him back across the ground, unconscious. Chrono smiled at his victory before collapsing from exhaustion.

"Chrono has won! Give it up for him ladies and gents!" the commentator announced. The crowd cheered for the tanuki as both he and Storm were taken to the medical ward. Sonic saw both Jet and Wave make their way through the crowd, no doubt wanting to see if their friend was alright.

"Well, that was certainly a most exiting battle!" the commentator continued. "But let's move on!"


	6. Round 1 Part 2

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 6: The Fights Continue

Last time, Aqua and Chrono won their fights against Espio and Storm but all four had suffered many injuries, though the audience's attention was on the next fight. The commentator's voice was heard again.

* * *

"Let's move on to fight 3. First off, he's an ex-GUN agent and a master of time, Mario Zack Williams!"

Mario walked into the arena. Like Chrono, he was oblivious to the cheers he was getting. He calmly walked to the centre and waited for his opponent.

"And his opponent, a master of umbrekinesis, it's Dusk Rose!"

Dusk skated into the arena, waving to the crowd as she came in. She received a lot of applause, which she was grateful for. She offered her hand to Mario's for a handshake but he stood there, completely still. Dusk got into a fighting position and gave the 'bring it' motion. Mario simply sighed, jumped back and threw a kunai at her, which exploded.

Dusk was knocked back but Mario suddenly appeared from behind and elbowed her back the way she came. Dusk managed to recompose herself in the air and skated straight at Mario, with surprising speed. She threw several punches at Mario but he managed to block them all. The quiet hedgehog managed to grab Dusk's wrist and kick her backwards. He pulled out several more kunai and threw them at the purple hedgehog. Dusk saw them coming and shocked everyone by raising a tentacle from her shadow to block them.

Mario raised an eyebrow in surprise as the tentacle came at him. It jabbed him several times and was too fast for him to block. He stopped time for a quick second to make some distance. Dusk knew her tentacle couldn't go very far, so she took the yellow hedgehog by surprise again by getting rid of her tentacle and pulling another one out of Mario's shadow. It wrapped round him and threw him into the air before shooting up to jab him in the back. Deciding not to hold back, Mario sped time up around himself, causing him to fall fast. He landed in front of Dusk and prepared to punch her repeatedly. He was so fast, Dusk couldn't counter. Mario threw one last punch, knocking the hedgehog girl to the floor. She tried pushing herself up but fell back down.

"Dusk can no longer fight. Mario is the winner!" the commentator cried. The crowd erupted into cheers but Mario just strolled off not caring. As the medics helped Dusk up and carried her to the medical ward; Amy went off with them to make sure she was alright, Sally watched Mario sit back down in the stands with Damien. He seemed awfully quiet so Sally decided that he might need some company.

Walking up to him, she said "Hi, I'm Sally."

Mario glanced at her, his expression barely changing. "I'm Mario" he muttered.

Sally tilted her head. He was certainly unsociable. "You seem like a quiet person. Is there any reason for that?" she asked.

Mario didn't respond. Damien noticed this and moved Sally away so he could speak with her. "It's best you didn't pry into Mario's past a lot. Plus, he's not good talking to girls" he explained.

"Why? Is he shy?" Sally asked.

"No, it's just that he doesn't like getting too close to girls much since his last girlfriend died. He's worried that he might not be able to protect girls he gets close to."

Sally was shocked by this. She went back to Mario and sat down next to him. Mario cocked his head towards her.

"Is there any reason why you're still here?" he asked.

Sally smiled, which took Mario by surprise. "You just seem to be a nice person. I'm sure there's no harm in us being friends, is there?"

Now Mario was really taken aback. He didn't know anything about this girl and she was treating him like a friend. He felt a strange sensation in his chest which forced a smile out. Damien was seriously shocked seeing Mario smile. He was taken aback even more when he saw Mario starting to talk to Sally. Damien smirked at his pal's new friendship.

* * *

The commentator began to speak again. "Let's move on, shall we? Our next fighter is a real tough guy from the icy fields of Antarctica. It's Bark the Polarbear!"

Bark walked on with cheers coming from the crowd but they weren't as big as the previous ones. He bashed his fists together, ready for anything.

"And his opponent, a fiery contender from Nexus City, it's Crisis Black!"

Crisis walked on, smiling and waving to the crowd. Bark was quite annoyed by the guy's laidback attitude. Crisis began to bow and blow kisses, aggravating the polarbear more and more.

"Hey," he growled in his gruff voice. "Are we gonna fight or not?"

Crisis turned to his foe. "Ready when you are."

Bark growled and ran straight at the raccoon-dog hybrid, swinging his fists. Crisis repeatedly jumped back, avoiding each one. Bark eventually nailed him with an uppercut. As Crisis fell back down, Bark grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. Still holding on to him, Bark began to spin, eventually letting go and throwing him into the wall. Bark smirked as Crisis slipped to the ground. He was shocked when Crisis stood back up with a hateful look in his eyes. His laidback attitude had suddenly vanished and he was beyond angry.

He pulled out a rose coloured sword with a black streak down the centre. He ran straight at Bark, who put his fists up for defence. As Crisis ran, black flames began to circle his wrists before turning into wrist blades that extended to about three quarters of a metre. Bark was taken aback by this and was unable to defend himself from the various slashes and jabs he got from it. Crisis finished his onslaught by releasing the flames in a shockwave that burnt the polarbear with amazing ferocity. By the time it was over, Bark was unconscious.

"And Crisis wins with an outstanding finish!" the commentator yelled to the crowd. Medics came for Bark while Crisis stood there, calming himself down. He had let his anger take control again. He walked off quietly while the crowd stared in shock at how badly he hurt Bark. Their thoughts were interrupted by the commentator.

"Now, let's move on!"


	7. Round 1 Part 3

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 7: Unlikely Match Ups

Last time, Mario and Crisis managed to triumph over Dusk and Bark with minor injuries. That couldn't be said about Bark who had suffered major burns from Crisis. Also, Mario had formed an unlikely friendship with Sonic's sister, Sally. Right now, the two were exchanging life stories when the commentator interrupted them.

"It's now for the next fight, and boy, is it going to be one. First up, he's an expert fisher who's best friends with a frog. From the Mystic Ruins, it's Big the Cat!"

Big walked on, smiling and waving, although the crowd's reaction was mixed. Sonic, Tails, Amy (who had just come back from visiting Dusk) and Cream were cheering for him but the rest of the crowd either stared or politely clapped. After all, Big didn't look like a fighter.

"And his opponent, the sharpest shooter in the world, it's Fang the Sniper!"

When Fang walked on, he was greeted with a few boos as well as claps. Most of these boos came from the heroes. Cream had heard about Fang's reputation and when she saw the gun in his holster, she feared her friend's safety.

Big grinned stupidly as Fang walked up to him and began to load his gun.

"Since I'm not allowed to kill, I'll make sure I won't shoot anywhere that makes you bleed… much!" he grinned, evilly.

Big didn't get it until Fang shot at his shoulder. The cat reeled back in pain, his shoulder dripping in blood. The crowd gasped at Fang's action while the weasel smirked a toothy grin and continued to fire at Big's feet. The poor cat ended up dancing on the spot as Fang continued to fire bullets at him. Fang eventually ran out of bullets so he began to reload. He was so sure about winning that he didn't notice the fishing rod wrapping around him until it was too late. Big, using his amazing strength, spun around with Fang still being held by his rod. Eventually, Fang flew off, crashing into a wall.

Slightly disorientated, Fang started shooting at Big again. The cat took him by surprise again when he pulled an umbrella out and spun it in front of him. Somehow, the bullets bounced off. Fang was irritated by this so he fell back, coiling his tail up and using it to spring himself towards Big, kicking him in the face. Big was knocked back slightly, losing his focus, giving Fang time to reload his gun again. As he finished loading, he aimed his gun but was distracted by Froggy who hopped at his feet. The frog then jumped onto Fang's face, covering his eyes and causing him to shoot wildly. Thankfully, no one was hit by the bullets. Fang eventually pulled the frog of his face and threw him into the wall. Big had seen this and got very angry. He jumped into the air and belly flopped on Fang. The weasel was stunned with fear, letting out a girlish scream as the cat crushed him. Big got off and quickly ran to Froggy. Fortunately, he was alive. Fang on the other hand was in pain. No doubt several bones had been broken, requiring medics to bring in a stretcher.

"Fang can no longer fight, making Big the winner!"

If Sonic and co. hadn't clapped, it would have been a stunned silence. Big was also taken to the medical ward to have his bleeding shoulder looked at.

Gemini, who was nearby, tapped Amy on the shoulder and said "Your friend was certainly tough. I didn't think he'd win."

Amy nodded. "He may not look it but he's strong. Plus he's got a heart that's as big as he is."

Gemini smiled before quickly looking around. "Hey, I saw Uncle Thorn sitting with you. Where is he now?"

Amy looked too and realised that her father was no longer there. Of course his whereabouts were quickly notified once the commentator began to speak.

"Our next fighter is a pirate and a master sorcerer, it's Thorn Rose!"

Thorn walked on, looking deadly serious. He had a fair idea about the competition that he had and was prepared for whatever came out opposite him. Of course, his opponent wasn't quite what he was expecting.

"And his opponent, a plant girl who's having her first go at fighting, it's Cosmo!"

Tails and Amy glanced in shock as they watched Cosmo walk on, with a nervous look on her face. It was bad enough that she wasn't an experienced fighter but she was going up against Amy's dad who no doubt knew his stuff.

Amy shouted to her father, "Dad, go easy on her!"

Thorn nodded and faced Cosmo. The plant girl bowed in respect and took a fighting stance. Thorn smirked at her guts and drew his hand back and threw a fireball at Cosmo. She jumped over it with grace and landed behind Thorn. She tried punching but Thorn held her back by sticking his hand out and firing thunder that sent her sprawling across the ground. She got up rubbing her head, rolling out of the way of an ice ball that Thorn threw at her. She pulled out some seeds and threw them to the ground. Thorn stood there, waiting for something to happen. When it looked like nothing would happen, Thorn ran at Cosmo, ready for another attack.

Suddenly, vines erupted from the seeds and began to slam into Thorn. He was knocked between the vines like a tennis ball before one wrapped round him and flung him into the ground. They were about to make one last assault when Thorn jumped back up and threw fireballs in every direction, burning the vines. With no defence, Cosmo was open to one last palm slam from Thorn, knocking her back. She didn't get up.

"Cosmo can no longer fight, making Thorn the winner!"

Thorn walked up to Cosmo and helped her up. "You've got guts, I'll give you that. Plus, you really got me with those seeds" he complimented.

Cosmo was still upset. "Thanks, but I wish I could've at least made it past the first round."

Thorn felt pity for the plant girl as medics came for her. She had suffered a few bruises from their fight. Thorn went back to the stands and took his seat next to Amy. Tails had left to make sure Cosmo was alright.

"I'm sorry, Amy, for hurting your friend" he apologised.

"It's OK. I just wish she got further ahead" Amy said.

A sudden idea came into Thorn's idea. It seemed crazy but it was worth a shot. He'd save it for later though, as the next fight was about to begin.


	8. Round 1 Part 4

**Doing this story was harder than I thought. Without any really epic fights, these chapters become short. Soz.**

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 8: Inferno

Last time, Big achieved a surprising victory over Fang while Thorn defeated Cosmo. All the while, the crowd was enjoying every fight they witnessed. But things were going to change sooner or later.

* * *

Right now, the next fight was beginning between two old rivals.

"Our next fighter is the guardian of the Master Emerald on Angel Island, it's Knuckles the Echidna!"

Out of all the people who cheered, Shade, Wrist and Kera were the loudest. Knuckles gave a friendly wave to them. Shade and Kera waved back before glaring at each other. Knuckles sweat dropped.

"And his opponent, a liquid entity of mass destruction who's really a gentle soul, it's Chaos Zero!"

Chaos trudged on. No one could tell he was looking forward to the match. He exchanged glances with Knuckles. He said something unintelligible but the echidna guessed it meant good luck. He replied "Likewise" before bashing his namesakes together.

Chaos threw his arm at Knuckles, which stretched but the echidna had knowledge of their last fights. He jumped and landed on the arm and as Chaos drew it back, Knuckles kicked him across the face, reducing him into a puddle. But Chaos wasn't going down that easily. He immediately returned to his real form whilst performing an uppercut, knocking the echidna into the air. Chaos jumped after him, stretching his leg out and kicking him back down.

Knuckles landed with a thud and quickly got back up before Chaos landed on him. Deciding to up the ante, Knuckles pulled out his Shovel Claws and made several jabs at Chaos, aiming for the head. The water creature however kept on dodging the punches. He eventually threw one of his own, nailing Knuckles right in the face. Chaos was about to attack again when the echidna used his weapons to dig underground. The liquid lifeform began to survey the arena looking for any sign of Knuckles. What he hadn't noticed was Knuckles digging back up behind him. The echidna then bashed his fists together and covered them with fire. Reeling back, Knuckles threw his palms forward, sending out an eagle made of fire. Chaos heard the sound of flames licking and turned in time to be engulfed by the eagle that swept through him, badly wounding him. Chaos reduced to a puddle and promptly left.

"Knuckles wins, ladies and gents!"

Shade and Kera let out the biggest cheers of all while Wrist applauded his son. Knuckles smiled and waved back to the crowd as he went to sit back down. As he sat back down, he winked in both Shade and Kera's direction. Neither was sure who he was winking to but it resulted in another staredown between them.

Sonic turned to his old rival, "Since when could you do that?"

"Since always. I just never use it much. It's the living flame of the echidna tribe and I'm able to control it to my will" Knuckles explained.

* * *

The commentator began to speak again. "Our next fighter is the scatter-brained mascot of the Chaotix. It's Charmy Bee!"

Like Big, Charmy received cheers from his friends while everyone else stared at him with confusion. Charmy loved the attention he was getting and did several loops in the air.

"And his opponent, another feline, this one a controller of fire, it's Blaze the Cat!"

Blaze strolled on smiling while waving to the crowd. She exchanged glances with Silver as she walked towards Charmy. She tilted her head, wondering how this insect was supposed to fight.

Charmy smirked. "Alright. My first solo fight. I'm gonna give you a left, and a right, and a left and a…"

He was interrupted when Blaze flicked him in the head. "This is my opponent? Some childish bug?" she questioned.

Charmy was clearly offended. His glee replaced with annoyance, he flew back and readied his stinger. Blaze now regretted what she said. The bee dived at her but she gracefully flipped away. Charmy chased after her, all around the arena. Blaze was fast enough to avoid it though. She turned her head to see how far away she was but Charmy was no longer there. Unknown to her, he had flown over her head and came from behind. He nailed his stinger right where it would sting the most.

Blaze jumped up in pain while Charmy fell over due to excess laughter. He tried to control himself but he couldn't help but carry on laughing. He stopped when Blaze's shadow fell over him. She was p-i-s-s-e-d and flames were circling her hand. Now it was Charmy's turn to run but due to Blaze being much faster, she caught up and singed his behind. He dragged his butt along the ground, trying to stop the burning, all the while saying "I give up! I give up!"

"Blaze wins!"

Blaze seemed pleased with her victory as medics came to take Charmy away to help sooth the burn. She strolled off and took her seat next to Silver.

"That was a bit harsh, Blaze" he told her.

"He deserved it. He stung me right there!" she exclaimed pointing to the spot where Charmy got her. She then noticed Silver was trying to stifle a laugh. One look from her shut him up.

"Well, that was a HOT couple of matches, eh?" the commentator chuckled at his awful joke. "But let's keep this show rolling, shall we?"


	9. Round 1 Part 5

**Oh, goody. Long chapter. Enjoy!**

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 9: Female Rivalry

Last time, Knuckles and Blaze defeated Chaos and Charmy to get to the next round. Charmy was still being treated for the burn Blaze gave him.

* * *

"Our next fighter is a two tailed genius; it's Miles 'Tails' Prower!"

Tails walked on as the crowd cheered for him. Sonic gave him a thumbs up which Tails returned.

"And his opponent, a robot intent on destroying his master, it's E-123 Omega!"

Omega slowly entered the arena and gave Tails a cold hard stare. The fox knew that Omega wasn't going to be a push over.

"Uh, good luck?" Tails said, showing signs of nervousness.

Omega continued to stare before saying, "Entering battle mode!"

He suddenly pulled out his guns and opened fire on Tails. Panicking, he flew off and circled above Omega. Since his body could spin 360°, Omega had no trouble keeping his eyes on Tails. The kitsune however was faster than the robot and since he kept making confusing turns in the air, Omega couldn't hit him. Eventually, the guns ran out of ammo. Tails soared down and landed on Omega's head, kicking off of it.

The robot stumbled but managed to keep his footing. Deciding to go all out on Tails, Omega retracted his guns and began to fire miniature missiles, not the big ones since Omega didn't want to actually kill him. Tails once again took to the skies and began to avoid them. Unfortunately, the missiles exploded over time and since they had a wide range, Tails was knocked out of the air and crashed into the ground. Omega stood over the fox and prepared to deal one last blow to secure victory when Tails threw one of his dummy rings at him. Omega was paralyzed and couldn't move. Tails immediately ran round Omega, pulled out a spanner, and prepared to short circuit Omega so he could shut him down. Sadly, once he opened Omega's control panel up, he saw all sorts of circuitry and wires clogging it up. Eggman knew what he was doing when he built him. In order to sort through all this, the young genius would need 10 minutes or so, but he didn't have that much time.

The paralysis wore off and Omega spun his body round to face Tails. He grabbed him in his claws and began to spin round and round, making the fox want to throw up. Omega eventually let go and Tails was thrown into the wall. The robot stood over him and said "Opponent defeated" before walking off.

"Omega has won, people! How about that?"

The crowd cheered for Omega and he received congratulations from Shadow and Rouge. Tails, surprisingly, wasn't that badly hurt and easily healed himself. He sat back down, saddened at his loss. Cosmo tried making him feel better.

"It's OK, Tails. It doesn't matter that you lost" she said.

Tails sighed. "I just wish I did better. I really wanted to prove myself. That I could fight too."

Cosmo smiled. "Remember on the Blue Typhoon when Shadow tried to kill me? Sonic and Knuckles were taken out quickly yet you weren't. No matter how hard Shadow hit you, you wouldn't give up. So, you've already proven yourself to me."

Tails smiled and the two embraced each other. Kyira, who was watching the whole thing, had two things going through her mind. The first thing was to make sure Omega paid for hurting her son. The second thing was about Tails' heritage.

"Guess he doesn't know" she thought. She wondered how long it would take until Tails knew he was half demon, what with her being the daughter of Kyuubi no Kitsune, one of the most, if not the most, vicious demon in the world. Her thoughts were interrupted when the commentator spoke.

"Our next fighter is the last of the cheetah clan, it's Emily Leot the Cheetah!"

Emily walked on, taking in the cheers she got. Both Armand and Alan were cheering her on.

"And her opponent, a spunky pink hedgehog with a very big hammer, it's Amy Rose!"

Amy walked on and, like Emily, accepted the cheers. She waved to everyone and blew a kiss at Sonic. He noticed that Gemini had seen that and immediately resumed writing his will.

Amy and Emily walked to the centre and shook hands.

"Good luck" Amy said.

"Likewise" Emily replied.

The two then sprung back and charged. Amy pulled out her hammer while Emily readied her claws. When the two came in contact, there was an explosion (for some bizarre reason). Out of the smoke that was made, Emily was knocked out and slammed into the wall. Amy followed her, jumped and prepared to bring her hammer down. The cheetah used her quick reflexes to avoid it. When Amy's hammer came in contact with the ground, it left a mark that made Emily fear for her life. Amy turned and began swinging her hammer at Emily. Despite her best efforts, Emily was sent straight into the air. The pink hedgehog used this opportunity to throw her hammer after her, which it Emily in the air.

She slammed into the ground, leaving a crater. Amy was smug about her victory but realised that Emily wasn't crawling out. Becoming worried, she peered into it. Emily jumped out and kicked Amy in the stomach, knocking her back. She then charged up her energy claw and slashed Amy across the face. She was sent sprawling across the floor. As she tried to get up, Emily jumped and landed on top of the hedgehog, pressing her claw to the back of Amy's head.

"Give up?" she asked.

"You clearly don't know who you're dealing with" Amy replied.

Somehow, the hammer that Amy threw fell back down from the sky and bonked Emily on the head. The cheetah backed off, holding her head in pain, allowing Amy to get back up. She got some distance between them before spinning whilst holding her hammer out. A tornado made out of hearts was formed and Amy sent it in Emily's direction. It picked her up and spun her around, making her even dizzier. The tornado eventually subsided and dropped Emily. As she fell, Amy readied her hammer, but the cheetah had other plans. The gem in her navel began to glow and her claw became surrounded by blue energy. Amy was in total shock as Emily fell towards her, claw outstretched, and she slammed it into her. There was another explosion and when it subsided, Amy was on the floor, covered in bruises while Emily stood over her, panting.

"Amy can no longer fight, Emily wins!"

Emily helped Amy up and accompanied the medics as they took her away.

"You were really good. You nearly had me" Emily complimented.

Amy sighed. "That's good to know. I just wish I had won, and then maybe Sonic would like me."

"Oh, I'm sure he does, really!" said Emily.

Amy stared at her and began to think. Was it possible that Sonic liked her in that way but was too shy to admit it? All the same, her hopes that Sonic would love her hadn't changed.

* * *

Before the next fight began, Sally glanced at the leaflet and realised that after this one, she was next.

Turning to Mario, she said "I'm up next. Wish me luck."

Mario smiled and said "Be careful. Whoever you're up against will be tough, no doubt about that. But I'm sure you'll do OK."

Sally thanked Mario and even gave him a quick hug before leaving. During that time, Mario felt the same weird sensation in his chest that he felt when he first made friends with her. Putting his hand to his chest, he realised that his heart was beating fast.

He wasn't… Was he? Either way, he sat back down and waited for the next fight to begin. He wondered how Sally would fare against whoever it was she was fighting. Little did he know that the person she would fight wasn't tough, but merciless.


	10. Round 1 Part 6

**I hope I didn't make Mario look different to how he should. Sorry, SlashBandicoot43 if I did.**

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 10: Round of Evil

Last time, Omega and Emily managed to defeat Tails and Amy. Everyone was getting excited about the next couple of fights, not knowing how they would end.

* * *

"Our next fighter is a master gunman and expert of psychological warfare, it's Alexander the Snake!"

The serpent walked on, smirking at the crowd who booed him. He didn't care what they thought. All he cared about was freaking out whoever was unlucky enough to fight him.

"And his opponent, a saviour from the future who has psychic powers, it's Silver the Hedgehog!"

The crowd let out a huge cheer as the white hedgehog walked on. He waved to Blaze and his friends as he stood opposite Alexander.

"Ssssooooo, you are my opponent. Sssshouldn't be too hard" he hissed.

Silver glared at the snake. "Don't underestimate me. I'll make sure you lose this."

With that, Silver dived for the snake, punching him across the face. Enraged, Alexander grabbed him and threw him away. As silver crashed into the ground, he mocked.

"Ha, you're weak. You don't stand a chance against the likes of…"

He was so busy talking, Silver had enough time to charge up a ball of green energy in his hand and throw it at the snake. The collision threw the snake up into the air, whilst kicking up the dust. As he fell back down, Silver held him in midair, before throwing him into the wall. Alexander quickly got back up, pulling out a rifle fro his cloak. He aimed and fired at silver. But the hedgehog smirked as he stopped the bullet in mid-air. Shocked, Alexander continued to fire but Silver stopped everyone. Getting fed up, the brown serpent ran at Silver and the two began to exchange punches. Alexander managed to nail a few but blocked all of Silver's.

The psychic hedgehog jumped back and put his hand to the floor, sending out an electric shock, in hopes of paralysing Alexander. But the snake was smart. He jumped to avoid it and brought his heel onto Silver's head, who was unable to defend himself. As Silver held his head, the snake grabbed him by the throat and began to hiss in his ear.

"You're good, I'll give you that much. But you made a big misssstake. You crossed my path. Do you know what I do? I make people kill themselves through fear. I bring as much pain to the world as I can."

Silver snarled at the snake while he continued speaking, with an evil smirk on his face. His voice then became a whisper.

"I saw you waving to your friends, especially the cat. Once this tournament's over, I'll have great pleasure in killing her, and I'll laugh as you mourn over her" he sneered.

Silver became enraged and broke himself free of Alexander's grip. His fur developed a green outline as he sped towards the snake. But, he managed to avoid Silver's attack, turning round and pulling another gun out of his coat. He fired and the bullet got Silver in the back. The hedgehog cried in pain as it drove into him. He collapsed, writhing in pain as Alexander crouched down to him.

"I forgot to mention. I take advantage of people'ssss weaknessssses. And yours was no different" he hissed before walking off.

"Silver can no longer fight, Alexander wins!"

There was no cheer. All that happened was a creepy silence. As medics came for Silver, Blaze rushed after them, wanting to make sure he was OK.

* * *

Mario realised that Sally's fight was up next and told Damien to pay attention.

"You've really taken to that girl, Mario" he said.

"Well, we're good friends. Plus, I want to see how she fares" the hedgehog replied.

The commentator began to speak. "Ladies and gents, we've received word that our next contender isn't here yet so we'll introduce their opponent. She's the princess of Southern Island, it's Sally the Hedgehog!"

Mario joined Sonic and co. in the cheers as the young hedgehog walked on. She waved to the crowd whilst wondering where her opponent was. Then, she saw someone walking towards her. She couldn't tell who it was due to the black cloak they were wearing. They also seemed to be emitting a presence that made her shiver.

In the crowd, Shadow noticed it too. He recognized it but couldn't remember where.

The figure then spoke. "This is my opponent? Hah, this should be easy!"

"Hey, don't think I can't take you on! I've been practicing so you'd better be careful" Sally exclaimed. "Also what's with the cloak?"

"Oh, I'm just using it for dramatic effect. But since you really want to know who I am…"

The figure threw his cloak off, resulting in a gasp from the crowd and a look of sheer horror on Sonic and co's faces, especially Shadow.

Sally was just confused. "Who are you?"

The figure smirked, or at least he would if he had a mouth. "I'm Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark. And this is will be your resting place!"

Mephiles fired a purple laser out of his hand that Sally barely managed to dodge. It grazed her side, tearing her dress and drawing blood. Now, she was petrified, especially when she saw the demon summon an array of purple orbs.

* * *

Upon seeing Mephiles, Sonic and Shadow immediately jumped over the side and were about to fight Mephiles when a group of bouncers came out of nowhere and blocked them off.

"I'm sorry, sirs, but there is to be no interference during the fights" one of them said.

"I'm not gonna let that beast hurt my sister! Now, get out of my way!" Sonic yelled but they wouldn't move. The two hedgehogs tried breaking past them but they were tougher than they looked and wouldn't budge. As they tried fighting, a scream was heard.

Sally was thrown into the air, covered with cuts with blood dripping from her mouth. She landed with a crash, throwing dust into the air. Mephiles ran at her as she got up, before kicking her in the face. She stumbled back but Mephiles followed it up with several punches. She tried in vain to fight against him but she had already suffered several bruises. She was beginning to lose consciousness due to the pain she was getting. Mephiles decided to end it by creating several little demons that jumped at Sally. They clung to her like flies as she tried to shake them off. They were resistant and began to cover her up. Once they had nearly covered her completely, they exploded. One alone wasn't a lot but with the number that was covering her, it was enough to rocket her up into the air once more.

Mephiles watched as she slammed back into the ground. Feeling quite pleased with his work, he began to walk off but he heard running and saw Sonic, Shadow, Mario and several of Sonic's friends running towards him.

"Guess I'd better make myself scarce. Don't worry, we'll meet again!" he laughed as he vanished in a flash of purple.

Sonic ran to his sister before turning to the medics. "She's gonna live, right?" he asked.

"It's hard to say. We'll make sure she gets the best treatment" one of them said as they carried her away.

Shadow clenched his fists. "That Mephiles. I'll make sure he pays!" he yelled.

Mario stared at Sally's body as she was carted off. Damien saw his friend and approached him. "Mario, are you going to be OK?" he asked, with concern.

Mario didn't answer. Instead, he ran off. As he ran, he did one thing he had never done for years. He let out his emotions. He found himself a quiet spot, made sure he was alone and broke down into quiet sobs.

"I couldn't protect her. Why didn't I try? Was I really so confident that she'd do fine? I'm a fool. I should never befriended her. So, why did I?" he asked himself.

It didn't take long for him to get himself an answer. He couldn't believe it and he couldn't admit it either. He just sat there, alone, like how he was before.


	11. Round 1 Part 7

**OK, let's keep this thing rolling. You can probably guess who wins judging by the title. It's hard coming up with chapter names for this**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 11: Girl Power

Last time, Alexander the Snake managed to brutally wounding Silver and Mephiles made a return by nearly killing Sally. Despite this intervention, the tournament continued.

* * *

"Our next fighter wants to become a great sage, just like her mother. It's Marisa Harmon!"

Marisa walked on, smiling as she did. As she waved, Sonic made a glancing look towards Larcen, who looked concerned for her. His attention was brought back by the commentator.

"And her opponent, a hedgehog who can control electricity, it's Strike the Hedgehog!"

Strike entered the arena, feeling confident. When he first saw Marisa, he expected this fight to be too easy. But then he heard that she was a sage. Now, things would be interesting.

As they walked up to each other, they shook hands.

"I hope you're not going to go easy on me" Marisa said.

"I hope you'll be a decent challenge" Strike replied.

The two backed off and Strike fired a bolt of lightning at Marisa. The young sage easily blocked it by firing her own lightning spell. Now, Strike knew he was in trouble. If she mastered lightning, she could easily block any of his attacks. It looked like he needed the element of surprise. Marisa reeled her arm back and, in a similar style to Thorn, threw a fireball at the yellow hedgehog. Taking a leaf out of Sonic's book, Strike ran, barely avoiding the fireball. Marisa began to hurl several more after him. Being not as fast as Sonic, Strike was knocked over and skidded across the ground, hitting the wall headfirst.

Feeling dizzy, he slowly got back up and made a dash for Marisa. Smiling cheekily, Marisa used her light magic to blind Strike. Reeling back, Strike couldn't defend himself from another fireball. He tried picking himself up but found himself floating in the air. Marisa was using her wind magic to summon up a miniature tornado that spun Strike round and round. Strike, somehow, managed to turn it to his advantage. He charged up a huge amount of electrical energy in his body, before dispersing it. It got caught up in the tornado as well, turning it into a sort of thunder tornado. Strike managed to take control of it and spun it towards Marisa. Now, she was caught up and was getting electrocuted at the same time.

Strike, having escaped the tornado, smirked with satisfaction. It seemed he had won until he saw the tornado beginning to die down. Marisa threw herself out of it and fired what looked like an orb of darkness at him. It hit the yellow hedgehog dead on and he began to suffer terrible burns. He writhed on the floor in pain as the darkness engulfed him. Thankfully, Marisa used some of her light magic to get rid of it, as well as heal Strike. The hedgehog sat back up and gave the thumbs up to her.

"You did well. I shouldn't have underestimated you" he said.

Marisa smiled. "You were a good opponent."

"Marisa has won, ladies and gents. And look at that sportsmanship!" the commentator yelled, as the crowd cheered for Marisa. She went to sit back down with Larcen who congratulated her. Sonic saw her give him a friendly hug but Larcen blushed. Sonic's theory was beginning to become more of a fact. He then saw Axel watching Strike.

"Hey, Axel. Did you see how good a fighter Strike was? Sure, he lost but he managed to turn her own attack back on her" he said but Axel wasn't listening, or should I say, not caring.

"It doesn't matter how good of a fighter he is. He's still an abomination" he replied.

"Gee, I'm flattered!" Strike said, sarcastically, having just shown up. "By the way, where's Sally?"

"That Mephiles nearly killed her while you were waiting for your fight. She's in the medical ward. They said its best we didn't see her since she won't be able to speak. Plus they have a lot of work to do on her injuries" Sonic explained.

Like Shadow, Strike clenched his fists, swearing several vendettas on the crystalline hedgehog.

* * *

"Our next fighter is none other than the princess of Soleanna, it's Princess Elise!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as Elise walked on. She wasn't surprised that they were like this. She even saw several men wolf whistling her. She relaxed when she saw Sonic wink at her from the sides. Of course, when she saw who her opponent was, she became even more worried.

"And her opponent is another magician, this one a sworn enemy of the Sailor Scouts, Rothion the Owl!"

Rothion walked towards the centre of the arena, staring at Elise. He broke into silent laughter.

"My opponent is some little girl? This is no challenge!" he scoffed in his French accent.

Elise gulped and readied herself.

"Ah, so she has some fight in her. Very well, let's see how you fare!" the owl challenged, pulling out his axe.

He swung it at Elise but she dropped and kicked out at Rothion's legs, knocking him over. Quickly getting up, he slammed his axe into the ground, causing an earthquake. Elise tried to keep hold of her footing but Rothion lashed out, hitting her with the handle of his axe. She was sent sprawling across the ground. Smirking, Rothion raised his axe and brought it down on her. However, she had vanished. Eyes widened, he looked all over the place for her. He found her, soon enough. Well, actually, she found him.

With his head turned, Rothion was kicked in the side of the face. He turned to face Elise but she wasn't there. He heard a whistle and saw Elise on the other side of the arena, waving at him. Not even the crowd was sure how she did it. Enraged, Rothion threw his axe at her but all it hit was the wall. How was she disappearing like this? Suddenly, something slammed on his head. Looking up, he saw the princess standing on his head. He swung up with his hands but she had already jumped off. Upon landing, Elise quickly spun round and kicked him in the stomach.

Thrown back to the wall, Rothion pulled his axe out of the wall and ran at her, intent of brutally wounding her. But once more she just vanished; coming from behind and doing a karate chop on the side of Rothion's neck, knocking him out cold.

"Elise has won! Can you believe that?" the commentator cried, with a hint of surprise in his voice. Even the crowd was taken aback but all the same, they still cheered for her, Elise blushed slightly as she walked back to the stands while medics came for Rothion.

As she sat down, Sonic immediately came up to her. "How in Chaos did you do that?" he asked.

Elise smiled, pointing to something around her wrist that Sonic hadn't seen before. It was like a metal wristband with different buttons on them.

"The scientists in the labs built this for me. It was what allowed me to teleport. It can also increase my speed, make me invisible, create a barrier and even slow down time" she explained.

Sonic whistled, clearly impressed. "Wow, you're certainly prepared for this."

The commentator began to speak again. "Well, let's get moving shall we? Our next fighter is…"


	12. Round 1 Part 8

**I've stopped trying to name them because it was hard plus it gave away who the winners were. So, I'm keeping it simple.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 12

Last time, both Marisa and Elise managed to beat Strike and Rothion respectively, Elise's victory being more shocking.

* * *

"Our next fighter is an old hero who has come back from retirement, it's Mighty the Armadillo!"

Mighty walked into the arena, looking determined. Surprisingly, a lot of people knew him and received a lot of cheers. He waved to the crowd as he approached the centre.

"And his opponent, the son of one of the greatest hero's that the world has ever known, it's Armand Novak the Tiger!"

As soon as the commentator said Novak, the crowd went into an orgy of cheers. Clearly, Tobias' reputation was bigger than Armand thought, as he entered the arena. He saw Emily waving to him and he waved back.

Armand and Mighty stood opposite each other and both shook hands.

"I wish you luck" said Armand.

"You too. Let's see if you can live up to your father's reputation" replied Mighty.

Mighty immediately jumped and back and his rendition of a spin dash. Armand managed to jump over it but Mighty uncurled and turned round with a spinning kick that got Armand in the back. As he was knocked forward, he placed his hand to the ground to flip himself back up. The purple tiger began to press buttons on his watch. Mighty stared with interest but regretted it as the watch began to shoot lasers at him. The armadillo began to dance on the spot as he dodged the laser fire. Armand stopped firing but quickly followed up with a punch to the face. Mighty stumbled but quickly retaliated. Soon, the two were just exchanging punches.

This seemed to go on for a while until Mighty accidentally pressed a button on Armand's watch. By sheer coincidence, it activated a laser sword that nearly skewered him. Armand used this to his advantage and began to swing at him but Mighty just backed away. Armand managed to get Mighty's back to the wall and was about to deliver a finishing blow until Mighty jumped over him, bouncing off of his head.

Turning round smirking, Mighty began another spin dash. While he was doing this, he didn't notice Armand pressing several buttons on his watch. As Mighty shot out at him, Armand fired a huge laser straight at him. Since he couldn't turn to avoid it, Mighty was engulfed by the huge laser. When it died down, Mighty was covered with burns and was unconscious.

"Mighty can no longer fight, making Armand the winner!"

The crowd let out a huge cheer for the tiger who stood waving and even bowing. But being the nice guy he was, he helped the medics lift Mighty onto the stretcher before sitting back down and getting a kiss on the cheek from Emily.

"This is great! Now we're both in the next round!" Emily cheered.

Armand smiled before saying "I hope we don't end up fighting each other."

Emily did look worried about that possibility but the two didn't focus on it too much. After all, the odds were small unless they kept on winning until they were the last two.

* * *

"Our next fighter is the wielder of the Dragon Sword, it's Kera the Hedgehog!"

The swordswoman entered the arena with a smile on her face as she waved to the crowd. She drew her sword, prepared for whoever she was up against.

"And her opponent, a friend of Armand's and another master of water, it's Basil Giles the Fox!"

Basil received a lot of cheers but not as many as Armand. But he wasn't focused on that. His attention was on Kera.

The two stared each other down, each waiting for the other to move first. Basil was beginning to get tired of waiting and immediately aimed his water cannon at her and fired. Smirking, Kera simply waved her sword and cut the water through the middle. Realising he'll need more of a strategy, Basil backed off whilst Kera attempted to strike him with her sword. Basil was able to avoid the blows and managed to gain some distance between them. He then fired a huge blast of water that was going so fast, Kera was unable to dodge it and was sent straight into the wall.

She picked herself off and shook most of the water out of her hair. As she did this, Basil managed to fire another attack; this one was a bunch of bubbles in the shape of a cross that caught Kera. She tried swinging her sword to break it but she couldn't move. Smiling at his work, Basil fired another blast of water, which broke the cross but did more damage to Kera. It looked like the fox had the best chances of winning. Kera was completely soaked and was shivering due to the cold water. Basil fired one more blast of water to finish her off but the hedgehog wasn't going to give up. Her sword turned yellow and fired electricity into the water. Unfortunately for Basil, the water was still gushing out of his cannon, so the electricity travelled up it and began to electrocute him. Since he was incredibly weak against electricity, Basil immediately passed out. Kera smirked about her victory before falling unconscious herself.

"Since Basil fell first, Kera wins!"

The crowd cheered, despite the victor being taken to the medical ward as well as the loser. Knuckles was impressed by Kera's abilities and made a note to congratulate her. Armand, meanwhile, felt sorry for his friend losing and decided to make sure he was OK.

"Alright, ladies and gents. We've passed the halfway point so we've only got another 16 fights to go. Our next fighter is…"


	13. Round 1 Part 9

**Soz for late delay.**

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 13

Last time, Armand was able to defeat Mighty but his friend Basil wasn't as lucky and lost to Kera. Now, two heroes were about to have their own fights.

* * *

"Our next fighter is another magic wielder, it's Blitz the Cat!"

Blitz entered the arena, giving friendly waves to the crowd. As he approached the centre of the arena, he pulled out his magic tome.

"And his opponent, one of the highest ranking members of the Nocturnus Clan, it's Shade the Echidna!"

Shade walked on slowly. She hated hearing anything about her connection to her ex-clan. It reminded her of how she nearly helped Ix conquer the world. Knuckles saw how upset she was and felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

As Blitz and Shade stared each other down, the cat pointed his tome at her. Shade wasn't phased by this at all.

"I suggest you be careful where you point that thing" she said, calmly.

Blitz raised his eyebrows. She seemed so calm about this. It almost creeped him out. Shaking it aside, he said "Are we gonna fight or not?"

Shade smirked. Suddenly, she vanished, just like Elise did in her fight. Blitz was taken aback by her sudden disappearance and was unable to block the punch to the back of the head. As he sprawled across the ground, Shade drew her Leech Blade, ready for anything.

Blitz got up using his staff and he said "What kind of magic is that?"

"It's not magic. The Nocturnus had far more advanced technology than this world. I'm able to teleport myself and with this…" Shade indicated to her blade, "I can sap your energy right out of you."

Blitz chuckled at the challenge and readied his tome. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flew out of it, hitting where Shade would've been standing if she didn't quickly roll to the side. As she composed herself, Blitz had run at her and swung his tome, knocking Shade into the air. Blitz quickly fired more bolts of lightning at her but Shade managed to dodge every one of them. Infuriated, the cat fired a ball of dark energy at Shade, which hit her dead on.

She crashed into the ground, kicking up dust as she landed. Shade had suffered a lot of damage from that last attack and she was struggling to get back up. Blitz felt like leaving it at that but knew that he had to make sure Shade stayed down if he wanted to win. The top of his tome began to be surrounded by lightning and he pointed it at Shade. Closing his eyes, he fired. Shade opened her eyes to see the huge bolt of lightning heading straight for her. She stayed there like a deer caught in headlights as the attack hit.

A huge dust cloud was kicked up as the attack hit. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, wondering what happened to Shade. As the dust settled down, the echidna wasn't there. Blitz immediately thought that he had vaporized her into dust. Then, he remembered something. She could teleport! Unfortunately, Shade had already came from behind and struck him several times with her Leech Blade. With his energy down, the cat collapsed.

"Shade has won with a surprising comeback!" the commentator yelled as Shade smiled over her victory.

She sat back down, since her draining of Blitz's energy refilled hers. Knuckles said to her "That was amazing, Shade."

She blushed at the compliment but did her best to hide it. "Thanks, Knuckles. I suppose I should feel honoured that you find my abilities good."

"I've always thought that, ever since we met. Even when you were with Ix, I knew you weren't one to give up easily."

Now, Shade was blushing so much she was as red as Knuckles. The guardian saw this and tilted his head.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Shade shook her head as she looked at Knuckles. Before either knew what was going on, their faces were getting very close. But just as their lips were about to meet, the commentator broke them out of it.

"OK, our next fight is about to begin!"

Once the two echidnas realised how close they were, both blushed and moved their attention to the arena.

* * *

"Our next fighter is the fastest thing alive and the defender of our planet, it's Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic didn't walk in, he ran in, and did a circuit of the arena, waving as he did. Since everyone knew him, the crowd's applause nearly deafened him. Sonic quickly made his way to the centre.

"And his opponent, a real thunder-cat, it's Alan the Tiger!"

Alan walked in with a cheerful smile on his face. When he saw Sonic, he became serious.

The two shook hands and wished each other the best of luck. The two then gave each other some distance and prepared themselves. Sonic started by running full pelt at Alan, but the tiger had other plans. He quickly pulled out some metal spiked bombs and dropped them as he used his jetpack to fly up. The bombs exploded, electrocuting Sonic.

As the pain subsided, Sonic looked up in time to see Alan slam his heel into his face. Sonic reeled back in pain, and Alan spun while hovering in the air, kicking Sonic in the gut. The hedgehog was sent into the side of the arena, clutching where Alan hit him. But he wasn't giving up so easily. Alan began to charge at him, using his jetpack to speed up. Sonic waited till the last minute before jumping over Alan, letting him crash into the side.

Sonic turned to see Alan pulling himself off the arena wall. The tiger charged again at Sonic but once more, he dodged by stepping to the side. Alan skidded to a stop and was about to attack again until Sonic's foot got him in the face. This was followed up by several punches and a kick straight upwards, knocking Alan into the air. Sonic curved into his ball form and spun up to hit Alan in the back, knocking him up even further. Sonic bounced off the ground and appeared above Alan, planting his heel into Alan's gut, sensing back to the ground with a thud.

"Alan appears to be beaten, so Sonic wins!"

Sonic smirked as he waved to the crowd. Alan struggled to get back up but found it difficult so he waited for the medics to help him. As Alan was carried off, he gave the thumbs up to Sonic, which he returned. As Sonic sat down, he received congratulations from his friends while Gale stared at him from a distance.

"He knows how to put up a fight. I'm glad to see him happy. But, when should I tell him that…" he thought but his attention was taken back to the arena as the commentator spoke again.

"OK, let's keep this show moving. Our next fighter is…"


	14. Round 1 Part 10

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 14

Last time, Shade and Sonic defeated Blitz and Alan respectively in amazing comebacks, but two of the biggest fights were just approaching.

* * *

"Our next fighter is not just a jewel thief but one of the best agents GUN has, it's Rouge the Bat!"

Rouge strolled on feeling confident. She waved to the crowd and even blew a few kisses. A lot of men whistled at her. It was a good thing Shadow wasn't there. Wait, what?! Rouge stopped dead. Shadow wasn't there!

"And her opponent is the Ultimate Lifeform himself, it's Shadow the Hedgehog!"

The majority of the crowd applauded for the black hedgehog but the gang from Soleanna looked at each other uneasily. Shadow himself looked worried.

The two stood opposite each other and just stared before Shadow spoke.

"I guess we're gonna have to fight" he sighed.

Rouge looked upset. "I didn't want to have to fight you. I love you too much."

Shadow held her hands. "I love you too" he smiled.

The bat cheered up slightly. "Don't hold back" she said.

Shadow smirked. He was ready for anything. Or so he thought. Rouge pulled him towards her and began to kiss him. The crowd raised their eyebrows at this. Shadow wasn't resisting and he didn't look like he was going to until Rouge kicked him in the shin.

He hopped up and down, holding his leg while Rouge giggled.

"You kicked me! I can't believe you kicked me!" Shadow cried with disbelief.

"Hey, you said we should fight. So come and get me" Rouge mocked before flying off.

Now Shadow was definitely not gonna hold back. He sped after her jumping above and swinging his heel into her back. Rouge managed to land softly thanks to her wings but quickly rolled out of the way before Shadow landed where he was. The two began to exchange kicks, each blocking the other. As they fought Shadow began to think of a weakness. His thoughts however were put off when Rouge managed to sneak a kick in across Shadow's face.

The hedgehog was thrown backwards but flipped in the air so he landed on his feet. The bat was already running towards him, prepped for another attack but Shadow had a trick up his sleeve. He reached into his quills and pulled out a white box. He opened it, revealing a ring that had the biggest diamond he had ever seen on it. Quickly pulling it out, he threw it at Rouge's feet. The shine that emitted from it was enough to distract her. She picked it up, completely entranced by it, allowing Shadow to kick her in the gut, knocking her across the ground.

As she picked herself up, she saw Shadow smirking that his plan worked.

"You tricked me!" she cried.

"Hey, all's fair in war" Shadow said as he shrugged.

Rouge had turned livid. How dare he use jewels like that to trick her! Now, when people get angry, they say stupid things, and this was no exception when Rouge said the most stupid thing to say to Shadow.

"That's no way to treat a lady. I thought Maria would've taught you better manners!"

After this comment, Shadow's fur turned completely red as he got angry.

"Leave Maria out of this!" he yelled, before letting out his energy in the form of Chaos Blast. Thankfully, it wasn't powerful enough to hurt the crowd. As it settled down, Rouge was shown to be unconscious and covered with burns and bruises.

"Rouge can no longer fight, Shadow wins!"

As medics came for Rouge, the crowd stayed silent. Shadow made one last glance at Rouge before taking his seat. Sonic stared at his rival with surprise. He just beat the life out of his girlfriend.

He made sure Shadow wasn't listening before going up to Omega and whispering "Hey, do me a favour. Talk to Shadow and make sure nothing happens again between him and Rouge."

The robot nodded in silence. He may look emotionless but he was actually worried about the two. They were his closest friends and, in reality, the only ones he trusted.

* * *

"OK, let's move on shall we? Our next fighter is…"

"I don't need any introductions!"

Everyone turned to the voice to see a blue Sonic-like robot wearing a black cloak enter the arena. Sonic gritted his teeth as he saw him.

"Metal. What's he doing here?" he thought.

Metal Sonic stood in the centre and looked about. "Where is my opponent? They haven't chickened out already, have they?"

"Me? Chicken out? That's rich" another voice said. From the other side of the arena was a silver hedgehog whose shoes were half red and half blue. If Silver was here, he would grit his teeth at the very sight at Nazo.

The two evil hedgehogs met each other in the centre and both smirked.

"You must be the great Metal Sonic" Nazo said, showing signs of sarcasm.

"I take it you're Nazo. The one who declared himself as Silver's arch enemy after only one fight. I hardly call that a rivalry" Metal scoffed.

Nazo snarled. "Well, look at you. You've failed a few times in destroying Sonic and look at how those turned out."

Now, Metal was peeved. Without hesitation, he clawed across Nazo's face and punched him in the gut with enough force to send him into the wall. To Metal's surprise, Nazo quickly healed his wounds.

"Not bad. But now, it's my turn!"

Nazo reeled his arms back before thrusting them forward, shooting out red spheres from his hands. Metal used his speed to dodge the blasts of energy and retaliated by firing a tendril of electricity at Nazo. The attack whipped Nazo across the arena but the silver hedgehog managed to right himself in mid-air. He then shot forward at the robot, colliding into Metal with amazing speed. Metal grabbed hold of Nazo resulting in a stalemate, each one pushing back the other.

The stalemate was finally broken when Nazo uppercutted Metal into the air. Using Chaos Control, Nazo appeared above him, brought his fists together and prepared to slam Metal back into the ground when the robot vanished. Wondering where he was, Nazo scanned the whole arena. The one place he didn't look was above him. Metal reappeared and slammed his fists into the back of Nazo's head, sending him into the floor. The Chaos being was about to heal his wounds but Metal wasn't going to give him the chance. He stored up a huge amount of electrical energy in his fingers before launching a giant bolt of electricity at Nazo.

After the carnage ended, Metal landed and stared at the badly bruised Nazo. But, like before, Nazo's wounds healed. The hedgehog stood up and Metal immediately got into a fighting position. But to his surprise, Nazo smiled.

"I must say, you're a formidable fighter. I'll let you win this one but next time we meet, I won't hold back" Nazo complimented before vanishing in Chaos Control.

"Nazo has left the arena, making Metal the winner!"

There were no cheers but that was the last thing on Metal's mind. As he walked off, he looked at the crowd and caught Sonic's eye. It was for only a split second but both knew what would happen. If they ended up fighting, they would make sure that the other would be in agony.


	15. Round 1 Part 11

**I belive a number of people were surprised by Nazo's surrender. Don't worry. He'll be back.**

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 15

Last time, Shadow decimated Rouge after she 'said the wrong thing at the wrong time' while Nazo surrendered in his fight against Metal Sonic, making the robot suspicious. Either way, the fights were continuing.

* * *

"Our next fighter is experienced in nearly everything you can think of, it's Ozone the Hedgehog!"

Ozone entered to the cheers from the crowd. He caught sight of Cream and waved to her, which she returned.

"And his opponent, the leader of the Chaotix Detective Agency, it's Vector the Crocodile!"

Vector got a number of cheers as well, making him feel confident. Upon seeing Ozone, he cracked his knuckles.

The two met each other in the centre of the arena and shook hands.

"I warn you, I'm tougher than you think" said Ozone.

Vector smirked a toothy grin. "Good, I need a challenge."

Straight after that, Vector threw a punch but Ozone grabbed it. Then, to everyone's astonishment, he lifted Vector into the air by his fist and threw him into the wall. As he slid onto the ground, the croc was seeing stars. With his opponent in no fit state to fight, Ozone quickly whipped out a book and began to read.

Vector shook himself out of it and saw Ozone and assumed he was mocking him. Enraged, Vector pulled out a microphone and began to sing, badly. Ozone wasn't the only one to cringe. The hedgehog covered his ears, giving Vector the chance to tackle him. With Ozone subdued, Vector proceeded to punch him repeatedly across the face. Ozone managed to recompose himself and he kicked the reptile off of him. Vector landed on his feet and shot his putrid breath at him. Using quick thinking, Ozone teleported behind Vector and got him in an arm lock. The more Vector struggled, the tighter Ozone's grip got.

It looked like Ozone had won until Vector flipped Ozone over his head. The hedgehog landed on the ground and left himself open to a body slam from Vector. Before he was crushed, Ozone charged up a small amount of Chaos Energy and fired it upwards in a style of a Chaos Spear. It hit Vector and badly bruised his underbelly. Ozone rolled out of the way and allowed Vector to hit the ground with a thud. He struggled to get back up but found it too hard.

"Vector can no longer fight, Ozone wins!"

Ozone bowed to the crowd as they cheered. Medics came for Vector but Ozone held out his hand to stop them.

"Allow me" he said.

Pulling out some herbs, he crushed them into a powder and sprinkled them over Vector. Suddenly, the bruises vanished and Vector began to feel better. Standing up, the croc held his hand out and Ozone took it.

"Thanks a lot, pal" Vector thanked.

Ozone nodded. "You were good. Maybe we could spar some other time."

Vector grinned. "I look forward to it."

* * *

After the two returned to their seats, the commentator spoke again. "Our next fighter is a Dark Wielder and someone you don't want to get on the wrong side of, it's Gemini Rose!"

Amy cheered for her cousin as Gemini entered the arena. A few people cheered as well but the rest seemed a bit scared by the dark hedgehog. He had this aura that sent out a bad vibe. Gemini didn't notice though. He was focused on his goal.

"And his opponent, a hedgehog who's skilled with a dagger, Larcen the Hedgehog!"

Sonic raised an eyebrow as Larcen walked in. Two of the people he didn't want to face were now duking it out. He calmed down a bit, knowing at least one of them would be out.

Gemini and Larcen stared at each other, showing no signs of friendliness. Time seemed to stop as the two just stood there. A voice then broke the silence.

"Come on, Larcen! You can do this!"

Larcen turned to Marisa who was cheering him on. But Gemini used this to begin his assault. He began punching Larcen repeatedly in quick succession. As he attacked, dark energy covered his arms, dealing more damage to Larcen. Gemini finished his assault off with a roundhouse kick, knocking Larcen away across the ground. The dark blue hedgehog picked himself up and pulled out his dagger. Gemini couldn't help but laugh at the feeble weapon. He regretted it when both the dagger and Larcen's necklace began to glow.

Larcen ran at Gemini and swung his dagger with surprising speed. Gemini managed to dodge the attack but Larcen was ruthless and continued swinging. Gemini didn't feel like getting cut up so he continued to dodge each swing. Eventually, the dark hedgehog jumped over Larcen's head. Not wasting any time, Larcen swung back round and his dagger went straight through Gemini, cutting him in half.

The crowd gasped while Larcen stared. He never killed anyone with his dagger and didn't plan to. But to his surprise, Gemini's body vanished and he was kicked from behind. Turning, he saw Gemini smirking.

"You…How did you do that?" Larcen asked.

"Why do you think I'm called Gemini?" the dark hedgehog replied, before splitting himself in two. There were now two Geminis!

Before Larcen could register this, both clones jumped forward, both glowing with darkness and both shouting "Dark Fang!"

With amazing speed, they shot towards Larcen. It looked like they had won, seeing as how the attack was now twice as strong but they bounced off of Larcen. Both were knocked back, before the two merged together to reform one Gemini. He stared as he saw a green shield covering Larcen, as he held his dagger up. Larcen smirked before charging at Gemini, his dagger glowing. Snarling, Gemini charged as well, preparing for another Dark Fang. The two collided, causing a flash of green and purple that blinded the crowd. As it settled down, both hedgehogs were standing but breathing heavily. Obviously, a lot of energy went into their attacks. It looked like neither would go down until Gemini recklessly ran at Larcen, his fist primed. Larcen quickly blocked it with his dagger and kicked Gemini in the gut, sending back across the floor. This time, he didn't get up.

"Gemini can no longer fight, Larcen wins!"

Marisa completely drowned the crowd out as he cheered and whistled for her friend. Larcen gave her the thumbs up before slipping into unconsciousness. Medics came for both of them, prompting Amy and Marisa to go see if they were alright.

"Well, that was an exciting match wasn't it?" the commentator asked. "Now, our next fighter is…"


	16. Round 1 Part 12

**Sonic and co. owned by SEGA**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 16

Last time, Ozone was successful in defeating Vector while Larcen and Gemini engaged in a heated battle, which the former won.

* * *

"Our next fighter is the prince of Southern Island, it's Axel the Hedgehog!"

Several cheers were heard when Axel entered the arena. The only one who wasn't cheering was Strike. Axel was carrying a silver sword that had a ruby encrusted in the handle.

"And his opponent, a master swordsman from Babylon Garden, it's Tagio Della Volpe!"

Like Axel, there were cheers but amongst them you could make out the boos that Jet was giving.

Both fighters stood opposite each other in the centre. Tagio drew out his own sword, prompting Axel to speak.

"Looks like we'll be having a sword fight. I hope you have a reason to be called a master swordsman" he smirked.

Tagio frowned. "I think you're the one who needs to prove himself" he said as he drew out his own blade. Within a few seconds, the two were already hacking away at each other, blocking the other one's slashes. Several people were cheering for Axel but Tagio didn't let that throw him. He noticed that Axel was very direct and the only reason he was blocking was because he was throwing his sword for an attack and it got in the way. Using this piece of info, Tagio ducked under Axel's swipe and kicked at his legs, knocking him over.

The hedgehog quickly stood back up and jumped back before Tagio's sword impaled him. Axel ran at his opponent, ready to jab with his sword but this left him open. Tagio swiftly stretched his leg out and his heel came in contact with Axel's muzzle. Dazed, Axel stumbled, allowing Tagio to cut across his chest. The furry hedgehog screamed as blood fell from the gash. The falcon smirked and brought his sword down to knock him out, since killing wasn't allowed. But to his surprise, Axel found the strength to block the attack with his own sword.

The two found themselves in a stalemate, pushing against each other. Tagio was at an advantage since Axel had a wound and was losing blood. But Axel was determined. He began to focus all his energy into the sword. The ruby in the handle began to glow, causing both Axel and the sword to start glowing red as well. With his added strength, Axel threw the falcon off and onto the ground. Tagio was about to get back up but Axel was there first. He stood on Tagio's throat and pointed his sword at the bird's throat. With no way out, Tagio admitted defeat.

"Axel wins in an amazing display of swordsmanship!" the commentator yelled, resulting in the crowd cheering as well. Medics came for Axel but Tagio stormed off. Jet smirked as he saw him go.

"Looks like someone's a sore loser" he chuckled.

"Don't forget Cesare's still in this" Wave reminded him.

"Ah, don't worry about it. My fight's coming up soon and hopefully I'll be able to show him what I'm made of!" Jet exclaimed. Wave rolled her eyes as the commentator spoke again.

* * *

"Our next fighter is a cocky dog with dark Chaos energy, it's Damien Christian Angels!"

Several girls cheered as Damien walked in. He smirked at the attention he was getting and even winked at one girl, causing her to faint.

"And his opponent, a master of wind and thunder magic, it's Mathias the White Wolf!"

Mathias walked in, carrying his magic tome and waving to the crowd. He saw Amelia waving at him and he waved back.

Damien stared at Mathias' tome as they walked towards each other.

"A stick? You think you can beat me with a stick? Oh, that's rich!" Damien laughed, angering the wolf.

"This stick can control wind and thunder. Be thankful I don't use it to its full potential!" he warned but Damien was still too busy laughing. Getting fed up; he aimed his tome at the dog and fired a bolt of lightning at his butt. This caused Damien to run to the other side of arena in pain. As the pain subsided, Damien decided to get serious.

He charged up an amount of dark Chaos energy in his hand, making it resemble a claw and he charged at the wolf. Mathias began to spin his tome in front of him and conjured up a strong breeze that forced the dog to be blown back into the wall. Damien realised that brute force wouldn't be enough. Deciding to attack from a distance, Damien ejected black flames from his hands at Mathias. Not taking chances, the wolf dodged the flames but in doing so, he allowed Damien to get closer.

Before he could defend himself, Mathias was struck by Damien's fist and was knocked across the floor. Before he could get back up, Damien covered both his hands with dark energy and proceeded to brutally slice up Mathias, not giving him the chance to defend himself. The wolf was now severely burnt but Damien wasn't taking chances. He held Mathias above his head and slammed him into the ground. The wolf clearly wasn't going to give up easily and tried getting back up but Damien stood on him, crushing his back. Mathias cried in pain as Damien pushed his foot down. Just when it looked like he was about to break the young wolf's back, Mathias cried "OK, I give up!"

"Mathias has surrendered, making Damien the winner!" the commentator exclaimed, as the dog got off of Mathias' back. Damien went to take his seat as medics came to help Mathias. Amelia promptly rushed off to make sure her brother was OK.

As Damien sat down, he noticed Mario was back.

"Hey, Mario. Did you see me fight?" he asked but the hedgehog remained silent. Normally, Damien would think this was normal but he knew that this was different.

"So, did you see Sally in the hospital?" he asked but Mario turned away. For a split second, Damien could've sworn that Mario had a lone tear on his face. Nah, he thought. This was Mario, the guy who never showed emotion. But still, that girl did have some affect on him. Damien was about to pry even further until the commentator spoke.

"OK, let's move on shall we? Our next fighter is…"


	17. Round 1 Part 13

**Sonic and co. owned by SEGA**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 17

Last time, Axel and Damien won their fights against Tagio and Mathias.

* * *

"Our next fighter is a duck who's handy with explosives, it's Bean the Dynamite!"

Bean jumped out of the shadows into the arena, looking quite crazed. He pulled out several unlit bombs and began to juggle with them. The crowd immediately thought of the same thing. He's nuts!

"And his opponent, a machine hell bent on destruction, it's Metal Havoc!"

Havoc, who was in the crowd, twitched as he saw his robotic duplicate walk into the arena. He seemed awfully calm and he had good reason. Bean didn't show any signs of having skill. Sonic noticed Metal Havoc's similarity to Metal Sonic and became worried about Bean's safety. If he was anything like Metal Sonic, the crazy duck was in trouble.

The two fighters stood opposite each other. Well, Metal Havoc (who I'll just call MH for now) stood. Bean was still mucking about. This was beginning to infuriate the metal being.

"Are you going to fight me or not?" questioned MH.

Bean stopped pretending a stick of dynamite was a trombone and turned to MH.

"Come on, I'm just having a bit of fun!" Bean quacked.

"It's an attitude like that that will get you killed" MH threatened.

Bean laughed. "Oh, don't be grumpy. Here!" and with that, he threw a bomb right in the robot's face. The crazy duck fell over in laughter, thinking that MH was nothing but old parts now. But he stopped when the smoke cleared to reveal MH was still working.

"That will be your final mistake" he sneered, coldly. Before Bean knew what was happening, MH had grabbed him, spun him in the air and thrown him into the wall. Bean was dazed after the quick attack and was unprepared for MH's subsequent attack. He ran at Bean with amazing speed and launched his fist into Bean's gut, causing the duck to cough up blood.

The evil machine backed off for a while, allowing Bean to fall off the wall onto the ground. With whatever strength he had left, he pulled out a stick of dynamite, which he lit. He then ran at the robot, letting out a war cry. His intention was to shove it between MH's eyes and let it blow his head off. But MH stood to the side and tripped Bean up, causing him to drop the TNT. MH picked Bean up by his neck and readied his claws. Before he could rip the green bird up into shreds, the dynamite went off. It didn't hit anyone but it was enough to take MH's attention. Using this, Bean punched MH in the face, causing him to be dropped. MH was now really annoyed but Bean had already pulled out a whole supply of bombs out of who knows where. He threw one at MH but the robot had whipped out a gatling gun and shot it before it made contact.

Bean, wide eyed, began to throw the rest but all were shot before they were even close to MH. Soon, he had run out of bombs and MH had the gun pointed to his head.

"OK, I give! I give!" the duck cried, whimpering at the sight of the gun.

MH chuckled. "You forget. I'm not allowed to kill" he said.

Bean sighed, thinking he was spared until MH shot him in the shoulder before saying "But I AM allowed to be ruthless."

"Metal Havoc wins" the commentator announced as medics came for the duck. Metal Havoc was already leaving but caught Havoc's eye before leaving. Sonic saw this and saw himself and Metal Sonic in the two.

Havoc kept his eye on Metal Havoc as he left before thinking "Looks like things will get interesting."

* * *

"Our next fighter is the daughter of the most feared demon in the world, it's Kyira Kitsune!"

Now, the crowd's response was completely different to everyone else's. They booed. And I mean booed. As Kyira came out, she was greeted by a bucketful of insults. The only ones cheering her were her friends and Tails. She smiled at her son. She just had to hope he wasn't one too.

Sonic turned to his best friend and asked "Is that demon stuff true?"

Tails nodded. "She is the daughter of a demon, the Nine Tailed Fox Demon."

Sonic nodded. "I suppose that explains the two tails" he said, pointing at Tails' namesakes.

"Yeah. The sad thing is, no matter what good she does, everyone treats her the same" the fox explained sadly.

"Well, she's got Knuckles' dad, Amy's dad and Gale" Sonic reminded him.

Tails nodded but still looked disheartened. Sonic then realised something. If Kyuta was a demon, then was Tails…. His train of thought was interrupted when the commentator spoke.

"And her opponent, a peaceful echidna who is the daughter of a tribe leader, it's Tikal the Echidna!"

Tikal came in nervously. She had never fought before, and what's more, she was going up against a daughter of a demon. She began regretting ever signing up for this.

The two approached each other and shook hands.

"I'm sorry if I badly hurt you, but I'm not merciful" said Kyira.

Tikal gulped, slipping on a pair of metal covers for her gloves. "Well, I need to give it my best."

The two got into fighting positions. Tikal was the first to attack. She swung out her fist but Kyira easily caught it. Tikal attempted another swing but it met with the same result. With no way to defend herself, Tikal was unable to stop the fox demon from shoving her back before whipping out with her tails, knocking the young echidna to the floor.

She wasn't injured badly but it was clear that she wasn't an adept fighter. Kyira knelt down to her level.

"You could just give up?" she suggested but Tikal shook her head.

"No. I'm not gonna give up. I don't care how hard you try, I'll fight till either I win or drop!" she said defiantly.

Kyira liked her guts but wasn't going to go easy. The demon crouched down on all fours and began to emit a red aura. Tikal began to notice that the air around Kyira was getting hot. Clearly, she was beginning to utilize her full power. Tikal became nervous but knew she couldn't chicken out now. She ran full speed at her opponent but Kyira was faster. She swept past Tikal with amazing speed, knocking the echidna over. She was covered with scratch marks. Turning, Tikal was met with the same thing.

Now, Tikal had more scratches and she was beginning to bleed. She stood back up but suddenly became dizzy and tired. She was getting weaker and it looked like she was going to fall asleep any minute. But she was fighting it. She ran again at Kyira, once more randomly swinging her fists. Kyira sighed at this and simply flicked her tails around, tripping Tikal up. She landed with a thud and fell unconscious.

"Tikal appears to be unable to fight. Kyira wins!"

Instead of cheers, there were boos. Clearly, a lot of people wanted Tikal to win. Kyira sighed softly, watching Tikal being taken by medics, with Chaos accompanying them. She took her seat again, next to Gale, who noticed her sadness.

"Hey, it's OK, Kyira. You've still got friends" he said.

"Yeah, but no matter what I do, the world hates me. I just wish Kyuta doesn't have to go through that" she explained, glancing at Tails.

"Young Tails will be alright. Look at Sonic and his friends. They'll treat Tails the same, demon or not" Gale said, comforting the fox.

"Thanks Gale. Speaking of that Sonic kid, he almost looks a bit like…" Kyira began to say but Gale covered her mouth.

"I know what you're gonna say" he hissed, "And I say keep quiet about it. I don't know for sure but I have my suspicions, so let Thorn and Wrist know that if they're thinking the same thing, they're to keep it quiet, got it?"

Kyira nodded as Gale removed his mouth. Their attention went back to the arena when the commentator spoke (he has a habit of doing that).

"Well that was invigorating but now, onward! Our next fighter is…"


	18. Round 1 Part 14

**Crap, this chapter is short! R&R!**

**Sonic and co owned by SEGA**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 18

Last time, Metal Havoc and Kyira completely thrashed Bean and Tikal respectively. Sonic also learned that Kyira was the daughter of a demon, which made him think about Tails.

* * *

"Our next fighter is a young girl with a pet Chao, it's Cream the Rabbit!"

A lot of encouraging cheers went out for the young rabbit as she came out. She bowed to the audience and her Chao, Cheese, cheered as well.

"And her opponent, the leader of the Babylon Rouges and probably the best Extreme Gear racer ever, it's Jet the Hawk!"

Jet strode out, feeling mighty confident. His opponent was some rabbit. He had no problems whatsoever. However, he saw Amy give him a menacing glare. Now, the emerald bird was scared. He knew how vicious she was and he guessed that Amy was telling him to not hurt Cream.

The two met in the centre and Cream promptly bowed. Jet wasn't sure how to react to this.

"Uh, good luck to you too, but don't think I'll go easy on you!" he declared.

Cream nodded in understanding. "Very well, but don't you underestimate me."

Jet couldn't help but snicker. "Please, what can you do?" he asked, mockingly. He regretted it when Cream curled Cheese up into a ball and threw him into the hawk's face. Jet was thrown back and skidded across the ground. He had a mark on his face and was now really annoyed. He got back up and pulled his fans out. He threw them forward, creating a miniature tornado that swept across the ground to Cream but she flew over it.

Now, Jet knew he needed a plan. He ran and jumped, hoping to hit the rabbit in mid-air but she retaliated by slamming her feet into his face, knocking him to the ground. Jet was now pissed and quickly aimed the metal bit of his fans at her and threw them. One hit her ears, causing her to lose altitude and bring her back into the ground. The other one hit Cheese, knocking him unconscious.

Cream caught the chao in her arms and held him close, glaring at Jet.

"How could you attack him?" she asked, tears nearly welling in her eyes.

"I told you I wasn't going easy on you!" Jet yelled, dropping the nice act. "Now, stand still so I can win!"

He grabbed his fans and launched another tornado at her. Still holding Cheese, Cream flew over it like last time, but Jet expected this and was already in the air. He brought his heel down into the back of her head, sending her into the tornado. The young rabbit was thrown all around the tornado, until it threw her out into the wall.

"Jet wins!" the commentator announced. The hawk smirked, turning away to take his seat. Cream struggled to get back up but couldn't. She waited for the medics to come, who were accompanied by Amy who lifted her onto the stretcher.

* * *

"Our next fighter is the evil genius who's tried to take over the world so many times, it's Dr. Eggman!"

Eggman came out in his Egg Walker while the crowd booed him. Eggman didn't mind. He still waved as he approached the centre.

"Ah, the adoring public. It never gets old" he chuckled to himself.

"And his opponent is another old hero who's coming out of retirement, it's Ray the Flying Squirrel!"

Ray obviously got a lot more cheers than Eggman and he smiled to the crowd as he came out. When he came face to face with Eggman, his smile dropped.

"Eggman" he remarked.

"Ray, how long has it been?" Eggman asked.

"Not long enough!" Ray replied, getting into a fighting position.

Eggman smiled as he readied his Egg Walker. Ray jumped, hoping to attack the doctor himself but Eggman immediately fired the machine gun at him, causing Ray to retreat. Eggman began to fire missiles from the launcher but Ray was fast enough to dodge them all. Somehow, the squirrel began to fly over Eggman and dive-bombed. It looked like Eggman would be hit but he managed to jump back to avoid the hit. Ray hit solid ground and was left open to the claw that came out of Eggman's machine and grabbed him.

As Ray dangled in front of the evil scientist, he struggled to get out but was punched repeatedly by a boxing glove that came out of the front of the Egg Walker. Eventually Eggman got bored and threw Ray into the air, firing missile after missile at him. Most of them missed but a few dealt some damage to Ray. As he crashed into the ground, Eggman fired a huge blue laser at the squirrel. It didn't kill him but badly burnt him, as well as cause him to lose consciousness.

"Dr. Eggman has won!" the commentator announced but the crowd still booed. The doctor shrugged it off and left the arena while medics came to Ray's side.

Sonic glared at the doctor as he left. "Somebody better take Eggman out quickly! Metal and Mephiles are bad enough!" he said.

Tails patted him on the back. "Don't worry. I'm sure one of us will knock him out" he said, calming the hedgehog down. Sonic smiled at his friend before turning back to the arena.

"OK, our next fighter is…"


	19. Round 1 Part 15

**I couldn't help but feel something was missing from the last chapter. Oh wait, that's it. QUALITY! I hope this one is a step up from the last one.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 19

Last time, Jet and Eggman ruthlessly defeated Cream and Jet. There were only four fights left now.

* * *

"Our next fighter is the king of pirates, it's Gale the Hedgehog!"

Gale received a few cheers as he came on, carrying a jar of rum. Thorn yelled at him and Gale was forced to hand it over.

"You know that you can't fight properly while drinking" the sorcerer scolded.

"Oh, come on, Thorn. Whoever I'm up against should be easy!" Gale said.

"And his opponent, the mysterious assailant who came out of nowhere, Starbright!"

Starbright walked out in a clam fashion, ignoring the cheers and applause. Her full attention was on Gale. When he saw her, the pirate could tell she was going to be tough.

In the stands, the Sonic Heroes stared at her. "Hmm, who is that girl?" wondered Shadow.

Armand, who was also suspicious, began checking his watch. On it were files on nearly every single person in the world. But there were no matches to Starbright.

"It's almost like she came out of nowhere" the tiger voiced out loud.

Sonic turned his attention back to the arena and, for some bizarre reason, became concerned for Gale. But why? Just who was he?

Back in the arena itself, Gale stared at Starbright as they met in the centre. It was hard to tell what she was thinking due to the fact her mask concealed her face. He decided to play friendly and extended his hand.

"Good luck, I suppose" he said but Starbright did not take his hand.

"I think you're the one who needs luck" she sneered. Suddenly, she jumped and aimed a kick at Gale. But the hedgehog was faster than he looked and easily blocked it with his arm. Starbright leapt back and ran as fast as she could, her fist drawn back. But Gale was still ahead of her. He jumped and performed his own version of the Homing Attack, only he extended his leg so his heel came crashing down on his enemy's head.

Starbright reeled back, giving Gale the upperhand. He ran at her and began to throw kicks at her, not giving her the time to block. Surprisingly, the mysterious girl managed to dodge every one of them. She bent back to dodge a high one and kicked upwards into a pressure point in Gale's leg. The pirate grasped his leg in pain, giving Starbright a free punch to the face.

Fighting the pain, Gale stood back up and prepared himself. Even though he couldn't see it, Starbright smirked. The hand began to glow with a blue aura, making Gale's eyes widen.

"Surprised? My suit allows me to maximise my own power with my own kind of Chaos energy. I suggest surrendering now" she threatened but Gale didn't back down. Sighing, she lunged for him, throwing her fist into his stomach. There was a flash of blue as he was thrown into the wall. Starbright walked over to him and, to everyone's astonishment, picked him up and held him by the neck. She then threw him behind her like a javelin, resulting in him crashing head first into the dirt.

But Gale wasn't done for. He steadily got back up and ran full speed at her. The two began to exchange kicks, neither getting a hit. Finally, Starbright ducked under a kick, whipped out a strange looking weapon and fired it at point blank range. It let out a bolt of blue energy that slammed into Gale and sent him across the whole width of the arena. He was about to get back up but Starbright was already above him, her gun aimed at his head.

"I win" she said quietly, before putting her gun away. The crowd didn't cheer and the commentator didn't announce her victory. He was probably in just as much shock as them.

Before she walked off, Gale asked "Who are you?"

Starbright stopped and turned to face him. She then looked towards the crowd and opened her mouth to speak until another voice was heard.

"Allow me to handle the explanations."

Then, a purple orb appeared and out of it appeared Mephiles. Sonic and Shadow immediately jumped down, avoiding the bouncers and faced the time demon.

"Mephiles! What are you doing here?" Shadow demanded.

"Why, I'm here for a simple act of revenge" he said, nonchalantly but he turned to Sonic and said "Don't think about fighting me, otherwise you'll be expelled from the tournament."

"I will get you for what you did!" the blue hero snarled.

"Well, I look forward to it. Come, Starbright. We have matters to discuss" Mephiles said as he turned to his companion before taking them both in a purple orb.

Shadow stood there, thinking. "Who is that girl? And why is she working for Mephiles?"

Sonic meanwhile, ran to Gale, who was having trouble standing. "Woah, take it easy" he told him.

Gale smiled. "Thanks for the sympathy but I'll be alright. I've been through worse."

Sonic stared at the adult and Gale did the same. As he looked at the young hedgehog, he saw someone else in him. It was his eyes really. Gale recognised those eyes.

"Your eyes are a lot like hers" he said, not really paying attention but Sonic heard.

"Like whose?" he asked.

Gale realised what he said and was struggling to find an answer when the medics came for him. He went with them, taking one last glance at Sonic. Sonic and Shadow took back their seats, both thinking completely different things.

Tails saw this and went to the two of them. "Are you guys thinking about Mephiles?" he asked.

Shadow nodded but Sonic didn't. "Who is that Gale person?" he asked, out loud.

Shadow shrugged. "I honestly don't know why you're so wrapped up about him. Let's focus on Starbright and Mephiles. What are they up to and why would she be working for him?"

Sonic shrugged as well, not sure himself but their thoughts were broken by the commentator's voice.

"Our next fighter is a mechanic and a member of the Babylon Rogues, it's Wave the Swallow!"

Jet cheered as loud as he could for his comrade. Wave strolled out, her wrench draped over he shoulder. Tails shuddered as he remembered racing her in the EX World Grand Prix and how she clobbered him with that thing during the race. He felt sorry for the guy who was facing her.

"And her opponent, a super powered bounty hunter, it's Havoc the Hedgehog!"

Havoc came out, ignoring the crowd and focusing on the task at hand. If he was going to get at Metal Havoc, he needed to pay attention. The two stood opposite each other and stayed silent for a few secs.

"So, a mechanic, huh?" Havoc said, breaking the silence.

"Yep, I can make any Extreme Gear good and durable, even for a bonehead like Storm" Wave replied.

Havoc smirked. "Extreme Gear? Those floating plastic planks? Anyone who has an interest in that has some issues."

This ticked Wave off beyond belief. With surprising speed, she clubbed Havoc round the head with her wrench. A normal person would've been knocked out but Havoc was only dazed. He began to back away as Wave continuously swung her wrench. The hedgehog kicked out at her, keeping some distance between them. The swallow staggered but ran back at Havoc, letting out some sort of war cry. But Havoc whipped out a rifle and shot the wrench out of her hand. She ran to grab it but Havoc knocked her over as he sped past her at speeds that would rival Sonic.

Havoc swiped the wrench and threw it into the crowd, leaving Wave defenceless. (Nobody got hit by the wrench)

"Give up. You're only weapon is lost and I have you pinned" Havoc mocked but Wave was smirking.

"Who said that was my only weapon?" she asked, pointing to Havoc's shoulder. He looked and saw a miniature detonator.

"Aw, crap!" he yelled as Wave set it off. The explosion was huge and kicked dust up into the air. Nobody could see a thing but they heard the sounds of punching and kicking coming from the cloud. As it died down, both Havoc and Wave were standing, covered with bruises. The purple avian wasn't giving up and threw a pack of TNT at him but Havoc used Chaos Control to disappear and reappear behind her. He performed a karate chop on her shoulder, knocking her out.

"Wave has been knocked out! Havoc wins!"

The crowd cheered for Havoc as medics came for them both. Jet immediately took off to make sure Wave was alright. In the medic room, Jet saw the other fighters who were being treated. Some were feeling slightly better like Fang and Espio but some were still not looking good, like Silver and Rouge. Sally was the worst. She was hooked up to a respirator and, according to the machine; her heart was beating very slowly. Jet felt sorry for her and Sonic, too.

He came across Wave who was unconscious still, and next to her, wide awake, was Storm.

"Hey boss! Did you win?" he asked.

"Of course I won! Wave wasn't as lucky" Jet told his friend.

Storm looked over at her. "Yeah, I didn't think she did. She didn't go up against either of those pieces of lunar trash did they?"

"Nah, Tagio was beaten by Sonic's bro. Axel, I think his name was. Cesare still hasn't fought yet" the hawk informed.

"Maybe he'll lose" Storm said, hopefully.

"Maybe, but I'll make sure that if I do fight him, he's going down!" Jet growled, clenching his fist. "I swear it!"


	20. Round 1 Part 16

**I'm back at school so it's likely updates will be less frequent. In the meantime, enjoy the last chapter of Round 1!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 20

Last time, Gale and Wave were brutally beaten by the mysterious Starbright and Havoc respectively. Starbright was also revealed to be working with Mephiles. Now, the final two fights were approaching.

* * *

"Our next fighter is the son of Rodrigo and from Babylon Garden, it's Cesare the Crow!"

A number of people cheered, which angered Jet. He knew of Rodrigo and these people didn't. He glared at Cesare as he walked on, carrying his sword. Cesare saw the hawk and sent a hateful glare back.

"And his opponent, another echidna, this one a pirate and a stickler for rum, it's Wrist the Echidna!"

Knuckles let out a cheer for his father as Wrist entered, cracking his own knuckles as he made his way to the centre of the arena.

"I hope your father does OK" Shade said, her eyes focused on Cesare. Something about him freaked her out.

Knuckles didn't notice this. "He'll be fine. If I know my dad, he'll whip this guy's ass in a matter of minutes."

Shade nodded but still had her doubts.

Back in the arena, Wrist was looking the crow over.

"You're my opponent? You seem a bit of a prissy" he insulted but Cesare took it like a man.

"Don't underestimate me, echidna. I'm one of the finest swordsmen ever. And you will be the latest to fall to it. If you're anything like your ancestors, you'll be wiped out easily" Cesare retaliated.

Wrist became angered and threw a punch straight at Cesare, who didn't block it in time. He was sent through the air into the wall. As he picked himself off, he said "So, that's how it's going to be."

Cesare readied himself and lunged for Wrist who managed to halt Cesare in his tracks. The crow wasn't so easy to take down and he managed to squirm out of Wrist's grip. He slashed his sword, which nearly took the echidna's arm off. Wrist threw another punch but the crow was ready, ducking underneath and whipping out his leg, knocking Wrist over. The crowd jumped and aimed his sword straight down. He would've impaled Wrist if he hadn't rolled out of the way in time.

The echidna quickly got up and began to throw punches left and right. Cesare tried to dodge them but he wasn't fast enough and his face became a mess thanks to Wrist. While he was dazed, Wrist bashed his knuckles together and they were set alight. He thrust his palms out, sending a torrent of flames at Cesare, bigger than that of Knuckles'. The evil crow was sent flying back into the wall. Now, the crow was nearly bleeding and covered with burns but at the same time, he was planning something.

Wrist made another charge at him, planning to smash him into the wall but Cesare jumped, allowing the echidna to ram headfirst into the wall. The crow landed and lashed out his sword, cutting across the echidna's back. Wrist yelled out in pain but Cesare wasn't done. He planned to make sure Wrist couldn't make a comeback and slashed across the back of Wrists' legs. Wrist fell onto the floor in terrible agony, with his legs beginning to bleed. Cesare cruelly smiled and walked off.

"Cesare wins!" the commentator cried but the crowd booed due to Cesare cutting up Wrist's legs. Knuckles ran down to see his father.

"Dad! Are you OK?" he asked in concern.

"I'll be fine. Argh! It hurts like hell though!" Wrist complained. Medics came for him and helped him to the hospital wing. As Knuckles walked back, he saw Jet standing there.

"What do you want?" Knuckles asked, coldly.

"I just wanted to let you know that Cesare is my problem. If I fight him, I'll give him an extra hit from you" Jet replied, smirking at Knuckles.

At first he was taken aback but he returned the smile with a thumbs up. The two managed to get to their seats in time before the commentator spoke.

"Now, it's time for the final fight of Round 1! Our first opponent is a robotized echidna who's also a mercenary, it's Zero the Echidna!"

Zero trudged on, not really paying attention to the applause. He made sure he was functioning properly before getting ready for whoever he was up against.

"And his opponent, an expert archer, it's Amelia the White Wolf!"

Amelia received several cheers from the crowd, except for Tails who was still peeved at her for shooting his food with an arrow. As for the wolf herself, she was bowing to the crowd, enjoying the applause.

When it subsided, she turned to Zero, who was getting slightly agitated.

"Are we gonna fight or not? I want to get this over with!" he said.

Amelia smirked and pulled her bow and an arrow out. "OK, if you say so!"

She fired the arrow but it bounced off the echidna's robot plating. It was his turn to smirk and he smashed his fist into the floor, causing a miniature earthquake. Amelia stumbled, trying to keep her balance but the quake was a distraction so Zero could get an easy punch in. Amelia was knocked over a good distance and landed with a thud. Zero walked slowly towards her as she got up. Things were looking difficult for her. Her only weapons did nothing and Zero was incredibly strong. The echidna grinned as he threw another punch but Amelia was prepared.

She quickly jumped to the side and struck him with her bow but that did nothing. This angered Zero and he threw another punch but Amelia dodged it again. The wolf suddenly realised that Zero was quite slow so she quickly flipped back to gain some distance. She drew a funny looking arrow and aimed it at the echidna. Zero was wondering why she was attempting something that had already failed but when the arrow hit, it stayed on and began to freeze Zero's entire left arm. Shocked by this, Zero made another run for Amelia. She easily flipped over him but Zero wanted this. He swung his leg back out, nailing Amelia in the back. She was knocked onto the floor but before she could get back up, Zero put his foot on her.

"Looks like I win" he smirked.

"I wouldn't count on it" Amelia replied, pointing upwards. Zero looked and saw the sun shining down on him. It then dawned on him. He quickly looked at his frozen arm, only to realise the ice was melting and the water was seeping into his robotics. He turned to Amelia and said "Nice move" before he began to malfunction. He hopped all over the place, shaking violently before falling back, unconscious.

"Zero can no longer fight, making Amelia the winner!" the commentator yelled, resulting in the crowd letting out a huge cheer. Medics and mechanics came for Zero while Amelia left the arena.

"And that concludes Round 1! Now you're free to roam the park. Remember where you're staying in the hotels and we'll be seeing how our winners do in Round 2 tomorrow!"


	21. An Eventful Interval

**This chapter is quite long so I'll just say a few things. The OCs that appear towards the end won't have very important roles so I stuck them in there. Also, fellow ShadowXRouge fans will be shocked.**

**Sonic and co owned by SEGA**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 21

Last time, Cesare and Amelia defeated Wrist and Zero, ending Round 1. At the moment, everyone was doing their own thing around the park. Fang, Bean and Bark had left, since they had blown their chances to win the emeralds and Rothion was gone too. He probably couldn't face anyone after losing to Elise.

The scene shifts to the medical ward. It was virtually empty since everyone had healed from their injuries. The only one who was still in there was Sally. Sonic, Strike, Axel, Shadow and Gale were all there with her. She was still hooked up to the respirator.

"I swear, Mephiles will pay for what he did!" Sonic cried.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him" Shadow told him.

"Well, be sure to save some for me" said Strike.

"Is there any reason why you're here?" Axel asked, with distain.

"Hey, she's just as much my sister as she is yours!" Strike yelled.

"Do you want to start something, because I'm gonna finish it!" Axel growled.

"Will you two SHUT UP!" Sonic yelled at them both. This got them quiet.

Gale stood there in silence, staring at the group of hedgehogs except for Shadow. The black hedgehog was getting slightly suspicious of him. Why did he show so much interest with Sonic's family?

Before his thoughts could go any further, a nurse appeared. "I'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave. Sally needs treatment badly so we're going to need the place empty" she said but they understood.

* * *

The group soon arrived outside. Gale left for somewhere else while Axel decided to do something to get his mind off of Sally. This left Sonic, Shadow and Strike with the rest of the group from Soleanna, plus Shade.

"Well, I have to say that was an interesting start" said Sonic.

"Agreed. Plus, we now know what kind of people we could be fighting" Knuckles replied.

"For some of you, maybe" Amy said, in a somewhat sad tone.

"Oh, cheer up Amy. It's not the end of the world" Sonic said, attempting to cheer her up. It worked because the pink hedgehog gave him a hug, which made him cringe.

Omega's attention was distracted to Shadow and Rouge. The two were trying to avoid eye contact. The others didn't seem to notice. They were busy talking about some of the fights that had occurred.

"Hey, Blaze. Don't you think you should apologise to Charmy for burning him?" suggested Tails.

"He started it" was the reply.

Rouge decided to speak up. "Well, that's what tournaments like this can do. They make people do STUPID things" she said, emphasising the word 'stupid'.

Shadow seemed to snap. "You want to say something, bat? Well, let's hear it!"

"I think we both know what I want to say! You tried to blow me up!"

"You brought Maria into the conversation, which was unnecessary!"

"That's no excuse to flip out! I'm beginning to wonder why I fell in love with you!"

"Same here!"

Shadow and Rouge immediately turned their backs on each other and walked off, leaving a stunned crowd.

Omega began to walk after Shadow, going past Aqua. He said to her "I suggest you talk to Rouge. I'll go and talk with Shadow."

Aqua nodded and began to chase after Rouge.

Omega found Shadow staring out into the horizon on the edge of the floating park.

"I am sensing high levels of anger" Omega announced, prompting Shadow to turn his head towards the robot.

"What do you want?" he asked, clearly still in a foul mood.

"I know that as a robot, I do not understand the concept of love but what I do know is that you should apologise to Rouge" Omega told him.

"She insulted Maria and for that, I'm not forgiving her until she apologises for mentioning her" Shadow replied coldly.

Omega shook his head. "I don't want to see you two angry at each other. You love her and she loves you. So, just say you're sorry" Omega seemed to ask. He almost sounded like he was pleading. Shadow stayed quiet, causing Omega to walk off.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aqua had caught Rouge at on a bench, sipping a cold drink. Aqua didn't want to see Rouge like this. They may not look like it but the two were actually close friends. They had shared a room while staying in Soleanna and the two had developed a sister like relationship, especially when Rouge found out Aqua could steal as well as she could.

The watery hedgehog sat down next to the bat, who didn't seem to notice.

"Rouge, are you OK?" she asked but she already knew the answer.

"I don't seem to understand him anymore. We got along well but now, he's changed" Rouge sighed.

Aqua turned to her friend. "Listen, I don't know much about this Maria girl, but she must've been important to Shadow and bringing her up like that wasn't the right thing. So, I think you should apologise."

Rouge turned to Aqua, looking quite peeved. "He nearly blew me up, Aqua. He shouldn't have overreacted so I'm not apologising until he does."

Aqua sighed, knowing that Rouge was persistent and left.

* * *

Elsewhere, the rest of the Sonic Heroes were walking through the park trying to think of what to do until they headed back to the hotels. As they argued, Silver's ear twitched. He wondered why it was doing that and stopped looking for any reason that would cause it.

Blaze noticed her boyfriend stop and turned towards him. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. It's probably nothing but…" Silver began but he was interrupted.

"Oh, I'd hardly consider myself nothing."

Everyone looked up to see a familiar figure float down, one that made Silver jump back in shock.

"NAZO!?" he gasped. "What's he doing here?"

"He entered the tournament and fought Metal Sonic but lost" Sonic explained.

"Lost? I think you've forgotten that I surrendered" Nazo reminded them.

"But why did you do that?" Strike asked.

"Oh, let's just say I have plans for Metal but that's for another time. I only recently found out that Silver is out of the tournament. And since that means neither of us can be disqualified…" Nazo started to say but Silver beat him to it.

"I get you, Nazo, and you're on!"

Silver jumped at Nazo and threw his fist forward but Nazo dodged it and kicked Silver in the back. The white hedgehog was knocked back into the ground but he wasn't going down that easily. He picked up a nearby hot-dog stand and threw it straight at the evil hedgehog. But Nazo simply threw a red sphere of energy at it, destroying it. Smirking at his work, he failed to see Silver coming towards him, his fist glowing with green energy. He hit Nazo round the face and sent him into a lamppost.

Nazo picked himself up but Silver had picked the broken lamppost up and was clubbing him round the head with it. Getting fed up; Nazo wrenched it out of Silver's grip and threw it away before firing a Chaos Spear at him. Silver managed to block it with a shield but Nazo teleported behind him, where he couldn't defend himself and began to throw successive punches that badly injured Silver. He was thrown forward and before he could get up, Nazo had floated above and zoomed straight down, feet first, and crushed Silver beneath him. Getting off of him, Nazo charged up two Chaos Spears before merging them together. He threw them as a Chaos Lance at Silver but he blocked it with another shield.

The attack bounced off and made a beeline for Axel, who was walking along, oblivious to the nearby fight. Strike saw this and ran towards the prince, shoving him out of the way and taking the hit. Blood splattered all over Axel as he saw Strike get thrown across the ground, a deep cut in his side.

"STRIKE!" Aqua cried, running towards him, hoping he was alive. Sonic joined her while Axel stared in disbelief.

Back with the fight, Nazo had Silver by the scruff of the neck.

"I have to say, despite we haven't known each other for long, you were a good opponent, but now your life ends here. Farewell, Silver the Hedgehog!"

Nazo was about to end Silver's life when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw a black tentacle that took him by surprise. It slammed down on his head, loosening his grip on Silver who kicked him in the gut. Nazo fell to the floor, dropping Silver and saw the tentacle retreat into his shadow. Nearby, looking quite smug, was Dusk.

"You interfering little girl! You'll pay dearly for that!" Nazo threatened.

"Well, I would be more worried about him" Dusk stated, pointing to Nazo's left. Turning, the evil hedgehog saw Basil firing a torrent of water at him. Nazo was unprepared and was blown back into a bench. He sent a Chaos Spear down the water, cutting it in half but Basil easily avoided the attack.

Before Nazo could do anything else, Blitz and Alan had double teamed on him, with Blitz firing a thunder spell at him that sent him into Alan who used this Thunder Kick to send him crashing into another lamppost.

As he picked himself up, he thought he was seeing double. Two of the same hedgehog was staring at him. He failed to realise it was Gemini. The dark hedgehog used his Double Dark Fang and it sent Nazo sprawling across the ground. He had received several burns from it and before he could heal himself, Mathis had trapped him in a tornado, made of wind magic. Nazo was spun through the air, getting very dizzy and very sick. The tornado finally stopped, dropping Nazo. He crashed into the ground with a thud.

As he got up, all the bruises and cuts he received vanished but he was still slightly hurt.

"Great. It's a hero jamboree. You're lucky Silver! But I swear I'll kill you!" were his last words before vanishing.

Silver turned to his saviours. "Thanks a lot for your help" he said.

"It's no problem" said Alan. "We just all had the same thought I guess."

"Yeah. Since we couldn't be disqualified either, it was alright for us to fight that guy" explained Basil.

"Well, I owe you guys, big time" chuckled Silver. His attention was then drawn to Strike. His eyes were closed and he was losing blood fast.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He took that Chaos Lance attack that bounced off of your shield. It was going to hit Axel but Strike knocked him out of the way" Sonic explained, while Aqua cried over Strike.

"Come on. Let's get him to the medical ward!" Silver declared. He and Sonic took Strike between them, with the others following. Axel, meanwhile, stayed there, still in shock. After how he treated him, the yellow hedgehog still sacrificed himself to save him. The prince got up and chased after the crowd of people.

**Next time: the beginning of Round 2!**


	22. Round 2 Part 1

**Sorry for being away for so long. I hope SlashBandicoot43 likes what I did with Mario at the end.**

**Sonic and co owned by SEGA**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally are owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 22

Last time, Shadow and Rouge had a huge falling out while Silver was attacked by Nazo. He was helped by the losers of the first round but Strike was badly injured defending Axel.

* * *

It was the next day. After getting Strike to the medical ward, they were told he would be fine, easing their worries. Axel was acting strangely, though. He seemed distracted and upset.

Everyone had woken up bright and early and after having breakfast, they reported to the arena.

While everyone filed in, the woman from the airport handed out leaflets showing who was fighting who. Sonic opened his and looked for his number. It was opposite the number 3.

The woman also said "Could numbers 18 and 24 please report to the waiting areas."

Sonic looked about for who was leaving and saw Big making his way through the crowd. He secretly wished him the best of luck.

Soon, everyone was seated, chattering excitedly until the commentator's voice was heard.

"Welcome ladies and gents, it's time for the beginning of Round 2!"

The crowd let out a huge cheer. They knew who would be fighting but the matches were still a mystery.

"OK, let's move on to fight 1. It's Big the Cat VS Jet the Hawk!"

Both the purple cat and the emerald hawk walked on, both waving to the crowd. Cream began to get worried for her friend. She had taken a sound beating from Jet and Big could end up in the same position.

The two fighters met in the centre and Big put his hand out, which Jet shook.

"Uh, good luck?" Jet said, not entirely sure what to say to the cat. He knew he was strong after seeing how he beat Fang and knew he shouldn't let his guard down.

Jet jumped back, indicating he was ready to fight but Big still stared at him stupidly. The hawk sweat dropped and decided to let Big catch on. He threw his fan at the cat, metal bit aimed at him but it bounced off of his flab. It seemed to make Big understand though.

He pulled out his fishing rod and cast it around Jet, before spinning the bird around the arena, making him very dizzy. The reel eventually snapped, sending Jet crashing into the wall. He picked himself up and charged at the cat. Big immediately stood his ground but Jet flipped over him and grabbed the fan that he threw. Pulling out the second one, he swiped them outwards, creating a gust that only ruffled Big's fur. Getting slightly infuriated, Jet began to strike his opponent with his fans but Big didn't seem to feel a thing.

Jet tired himself out, allowing Big to punch him, sending him across the ground. After spitting the dirt out of his beak, Jet decided to use his secret weapon. He pulled out a green ring that he fitted onto his wrist. Sonic recognised it. It was an Ark of the Cosmos.

"OK, kitty. This time, I'm knocking you out for good!" Jet yelled as he began to float in the air.

"GRAVITY DIVE!"

Jet shot forward with amazing speed, striking Big on his way. This time, he dealt damage and Big winced in pan. Smirking, Jet began to repeat the attack, knowing Big was too slow to protect himself. For the last attack, Jet pulled one of his fans out and used the metal part to club Big round the head as he zoomed past. Big was quickly knocked out.

"Jet has won!"

The crowd cheered for the hawk's win but Wave and Storm were the loudest. Jet saw Cesare staring at him and he gave the crow the filthiest look he could give. His trance was broken when he saw medics, accompanied by Amy and Cream, arrive for Big. Knowing that Amy would probably club him to death with her hammer, Jet turned tail and left the arena.

"Will Mr. Big be alright?" asked a very worried Cream.

"He'll be fine. He's just taken some bruises. He'll be back up in no time" one of the medics assured her.

Both Amy and Cream gave sighs of relief and returned to their seats.

* * *

"Our next fight is Armand VS Mario!"

Cheers went up for both fighters. Armand waved and bowed to the crowd, blowing a kiss to Emily. Mario on the other hand gave it the cold shoulder. This would seem normal if it wasn't for the fact that he was colder than normal. His eyes seemed to have some sort of determination in them.

Armand and Mario met in the middle and Armand extended his hand.

"Good luck" he said but Mario didn't take his hand. Instead, he stared at him coldly and said "You're the one who'll need the luck. I don't intend to lose!"

Armand was slightly taken aback but before he could reply, Mario vanished and reappeared behind Armand, striking out with his foot. The tiger was knocked across the ground and before he could get the chance to get up, Mario was upon him with a kunai. The hedgehog tried stabbing Armand with it but he squirmed to avoid it. He managed to activate his laser sword and blocked the kunai. He shoved Mario away, giving him some time to get back up.

Armand charged at the hedgehog, sword stretched out, but Mario held his hand out and suddenly, time stopped. Mario moved behind Armand and threw several kunai at him. As they hit, time started again and the kunai exploded. Armand was hurtled forward, several bruises and a small number of cuts all over his body. Mario drew another one, prepared to finish the tiger off but Armand had used his remaining strength to activate his Acro Laser. He disappeared and, in the space of three seconds, reappeared and vanished again 10 times, each time shooting a laser and slashing with his sword. It was too fast for Mario to keep up and he was swiftly taken down. He forced himself back up but Armand had prepared his Mega Laser and fired. It hit its target and Mario was last seen lying on the ground, covered with burns and bruises.

"It appears Mario has been taken down, making Armand the winner!"

Before the crowd could cheer, Mario cried "NO!"

Suddenly, he shot back up and punched Armand in the gut. He began to repeatedly punch and kick the tiger, despite his wounds and showed no signs of backing down. Seeing his friend act like this, Damien jumped into the arena and grabbed hold of the hedgehog, who was still trying to lash out.

"Mario, calm down!" Damien yelled, trying to get Mario's attention.

"NO! I won't lose now! I'll kill him if I have too!" Mario screamed.

Damien was taken aback. Mario never let his emotions out. But right now, he was screaming in anger and, by the looks of it, small tears were beginning to well up.

"Dude, I thought you didn't care about this whole thing. You only came coz I dragged you along" said Damien, trying to reason with the out of control hedgehog.

"It's not the tournament!" Mario yelled, freeing himself and turning to face his friend. "It's her!"

Damien raised his eyebrows. "You want to get back at that crystal freak don't you?" Damien asked but he already knew the answer. Mario nodded in response.

"But, what's so special about that Sally girl anyway? I know she's your friend but one of the others could…" Damien was interrupted.

"It's not just that! I… I… You wouldn't understand!"

Mario immediately ran out of the arena, ignoring his wounds. Damien stared at where his friend ran while Armand let medics come for him.

"Mario," Damien whispered to himself. "What happened to you?"


	23. Round 2 Part 2

**Crap! This chapter is short! I'm so sorry about this! I hope you enjoy it overall.**

**Sonic and co owned by SEGA**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 23

Last time, Jet and Armand defeated Big and Mario. But Mario went crazy and threatened to kill Armand. Damien managed to stop him, surprised that the hedgehog had let out his emotions. Mario then ran off, shocking the golden dog. No one seemed to notice as Round 2 was still continuing.

* * *

"Our next fight is Marisa VS Axel!"

The human girl and hedgehog swordsman entered the arena and shook hands. Both knew of the other's tactics. Marisa knew that

Axel was an expert swordsman and focused on attacking while Axel knew that she was a mage. He also remembered that she beat Strike and the yellow hedgehog's mangled body in the medical wing came to his mind. He shuddered.

"Hey, are you alright?" Marisa asked.

Axel remembered where he was and drew his sword. "Yeah, I'm fine. Now let's fight!"

Marisa smirked and immediately fired a bolt of lightning at Axel. He knew he couldn't block magic with his sword so he rolled out of the way. He made a dash for Marisa and swiped out with his sword, which barely missed Marisa, cutting off a bit of her shirt.

In the audience, Sonic saw Larcen's fists tighten as Axel attacked. Something was definitely going on between those two.

Back in the arena, Axel was recklessly swinging out with his sword but every time, Marisa dodged whilst sticking her tounge out at him. Getting infuriated, he made a dash, his sword aimed straight at her but, with amazing grace, she flipped right over him and kicked him in the back, knocking him to the floor.

He got up but found himself bombarded with fireballs, which singed his fur. He ran as fast as he could while Marisa began to throw more fireballs at him. Deciding to take her by surprise, He began to run across the wall before jumping off and aiming his sword at her. But, she surprised everyone by firing a wind spell. It was shaped like a spinning disc and it went straight through his sword, instantly breaking it. As Axel stared at his broken weapon, he failed to notice Marisa launching another lightning bolt at him. It hit its target, sending Axel back into the wall. He slumped back down, holding his head. He still had enough energy to fight but without his only weapon gone, he raised his hands in surrender.

"Axel has given up, making Marisa the winner!"

The crowd let out a cheer for the girl while she helped Axel up. Neither was damaged that badly and returned to their seats. Sonic saw Larcen congratulating Marisa again while Axel looked slightly disheartened.

"Sorry about your sword, bro" he said.

"It's OK. I'm sure I can get it fixed once I get home" Axel responded.

Sonic noticed that his brother was in deep thought about something. He'd been like that ever since Strike was injured. Strike? Axel wasn't worried about him was he? He was about to ask when the commentator spoke again.

"Our next fight is Kera VS Crisis!"

Kera and Crisis entered the arena, both looking confident. When the met in the arena, Crisis extended his hand as a sign of sportsmanship but Kera didn't take it. She had seen what he did to Bark and she wasn't happy with it.

Crisis took back his hand and brought out his sword, which Kera copied.

"Be on your guard, tanuki!" Kera threatened.

"Likewise" Crisis retaliated.

The two instantly charged at each other and exchanged blows with their swords, clings echoing through the arena. Crisis backed off and performed his Hell Flame Strike, the same attack used to defeat Bark. But Kera managed to neutralize the attack by turning her sword blue and firing a torrent of water at the tanuki, sending him crashing into the wall.

Looking smug, Kera's sword changed again, this time to red, and as she fired the blast of fire at Crisis, she yelled "Let's see now YOU like it!"

The blast completely engulfed Crisis, and the ensuing explosion made everyone worry, even Kera. It looked like she had just killed him, when the smoke parted to reveal a very pissed off Crisis.

"THAT'S IT! I'M DONE PLAYING!"

He pulled out a petrol can out of nowhere and dumped the contents all around him. Kera was confused at this but her eyes widened when he pulled out a match and struck it, letting it drop. As it came in contact with the petrol, it erupted into flames, which Crisis somehow absorbed. He then condensed the flames into his palms and rushed at Kera with amazing speed. He slammed his fist into Kera's stomach, releasing the flames. The explosion would've sent Kera out of the arena if Crisis didn't quickly grab her, punch her again, blasting her into the ground with a destructive sheet of flame. Kera was seen embedded in the ground, covered with burns and unconscious.

"Crisis wins!"

The crowd didn't cheer, after seeing him now decimate two fighters. The tanuki immediately regretted what he did, knowing he shouldn't have let his anger get out of control. He pulled the unconscious hedgehog out of the ground and laid her onto the stretcher that the medics brought. He then left the arena.

Knuckles seemed worried about Kera and decided to make sure she was OK, leaving a very annoyed Shade. Amy, with a sly grin on her face, shifted closer and said in Shade's ear "Knuckles and shade sitting in a tree…"

That was as far as she got when Shade shot her a glare that would give Mephiles a heart attack. The pink hedgehog quickly stopped and retreated several metres. Shade sighed after she left and thought to herself "She has a point. That echidna isn't like anyone I've met before. I better tell him how I feel by the time this is over."


	24. Round 2 Part 3

**I noticed the first fight was quite short so I did my best to make the second one longer. R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 24

Last time, Axel was beaten by Marisa, while Crisis nearly killed Kera, just like what he did to Bark.

* * *

"Our next fight is Elise VS Damien!"

Both fighters came on nervously. Elise was worried about fighting Damien. She found Rothion hard and she had seen Damien in battle. The golden dog was also nervous because he was fighting a girl, and not just any girl, but the Princess of Soleanna! He also had Mario on his mind.

Elise noticed this and waved her hand in front of his eyes, bringing him back to reality.

"Sorry. Um, I guess we should fight now" he suggested.

Elise nodded and took up a fighting position. The golden hound noticed a smirk on the princess's face.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Well, I was just thinking… How do you hope to fight something you can't see" and with a press of a button, Elise had vanished.

Damien frantically searched the arena, hoping to find any sign of Elise but he got a kick in the back. He turned round to see nothing. Before he knew what was going on, he found himself being slapped repeatedly across the face. Getting sick of this, he made a grab at the air and found his hand clenched on something. He smirked, knowing he had her. Elise's invisibility turned off, revealing her, but she looked pissed. Damien was scared by the look she gave and was even more scared when he realised what he had his hand on. The crowd flinched as Elise gave Damien the hardest slap she could muster, leaving a red mark on Damien's face. But his punishment didn't end there. The princess followed it up with a kick to the man jewels that caused Damien to wince.

"JESUS! What kind of princess does that!?" he cried, his voice unusually high.

"I'm sorry but you brought it upon yourself!" Elise scolded.

Once the pain eased off, Damien lashed out with a Nightshade Claw, knocking her to the ground. She tried to activate one of the wristbands features but Damien grabbed her wrist and ripped it off. With her only means of attack gone, Elise got up and ran. But Damien was faster and easily caught up with her. He performed another Nightshade Claw, sending her forward across the ground. As she got up, she spat the dirt out of her mouth. Turning, she was surprised to see Damien had a purple aura around him. It scared her.

"I guess you're still sore about the ball-kicking" she said. "Fine, I give up. You win."

Damien chuckled. "No one surrenders until I've drawn blood!"

He charged at her once more. Elise, on natural instinct, flipped over his head, and ran as far away as she could. He turned round and charged at her again. His fur also seemed to go a deep tinge of purple. Elise was terrified by his new look. It reminded her of Dark Sonic. Wait, Dark Sonic?

"Damien, this isn't you! I don't know what this is but I know you're letting something take over you! You have to fight it!" she yelled.

Damien stopped for a second. Suddenly, he grabbed his head as he yelled in pain.

"NO! I won't let you harm anyone else!" he yelled at no one. He then spoke again, only his voice sounded distorted.

"Don't fight me, you weakling! You can't even beat a girl! Let me fight her and I'll win!"

"NO! You'll just kill her! I won't let you!"

Suddenly, the purple aura vanished and Damien fell to his knees. Elise approached him to make sure he was alright.

"I'm fine" he said. "Thanks. I nearly lost myself there" he smiled.

"And the winner is Damien!" the commentator yelled.

"Wait, what?" Damien asked.

"I surrendered, remember?" Elise told him.

Damien seemed slightly sorry. Elise would've won that if he hadn't gone berserk. But when he saw Elise smiling, he smiled back and the two went back to their seats.

"Our next fight is Sonic VS Knuckles!"

Amy cheered for Sonic while Shade cheered for Knuckles as the two walked into the arena. They shook hands.

"Who would've thought we'd be fighting again?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, only this time it isn't because Eggman tricked you again" Sonic mocked, causing a vein to appear on Knuckles' forehead.

Annoyed, he threw his fist out, sending Sonic across the ground. He got up, smirking. He performed a Spin Dash toward the echidna but Knuckles easily caught it, throwing him into the wall. Sonic pulled himself off, just in time to avoid Knuckles' punch where his head would've been. Sonic began to run from the echidna. At first, Knuckles thought he was being cowardly, until he realised he was running around him. Before he knew what was going on, he was lifted into the air by a Blue Tornado. While up there, Sonic zoomed past him several times, dealing damage each time. The wind soon settled, dropping Knuckles. He slammed into the ground and kicked off a lot of dust.

When the dust settled, Sonic noticed that Knuckles wasn't there. All he saw was a hole. A HOLE!? Sonic was taken by surprise when Knuckles came out from below him, sending him into the air. The echidna bashed his fists together, setting them alight. He sent a torrent of fire up towards the airborne hedgehog. Sonic managed to change his position in the air to avoid the flames and spun downwards with amazing speed. As he approached the dumbstruck echidna, he extended his leg out and smashed his heel into Knuckles' head.

He flipped back, noticing that Knuckles was getting angry. He charged recklessly, swinging his fists out. Sonic was able to block them with kicks. This continued until they began to tire out. Knuckles made one last attempt but Sonic ducked, struck out with his leg, knocking Knuckles to the floor. He then jumped into the air and spun into Knuckles' gut. It was too much and Knuckles didn't get up.

"Sonic wins again!"

The crowd went into an uproar at Sonic's victory, especially Amy. Sonic waved to the crowd before helping his friend up. He assisted the medics, accompanied by Shade, with getting Knuckles to the medical ward. As he walked in, he saw Strike and Sally, both lying unconscious. Strike's damages were being healed nicely, but Sally was still hooked up to the respirator. Also, the heart monitor was beeping slowly. Sonic went up to her and kissed her on the forehead, whispering "Don't worry, Sally. Mephiles will pay!"


	25. Round 2 Part 4

**Crap, I thought this chapter would be longer. Still, hope you enjoy and R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 25

Last time, Damien and Sonic triumphed over Elise and Knuckles respectively.

* * *

"Our next fight is Shadow VS Larcen!"

Both hedgehogs entered the arena looking serious. They didn't pay attention to the cheers they got. Larcen made a quick glance to Marisa but Shadow stared straight ahead.

The two said nothing as they stood opposite each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually, they both struck. Shadow threw a punch while Larcen shot out his leg, both attacks blocking each other. They both jumped back and Shadow threw a Chaos Spear at Larcen who managed to dodge it. He drew his dagger, charged some power and lunged at the black hedgehog. But he dodged the attack and punched Larcen in the face, sending him to the other side of the arena.

Larcen pushed himself back up and saw Shadow skating towards him. He jumped over the black hedgehog but Shadow quickly smashed his fist up, knocking Larcen into the air. Shadow jumped after the dark blue hedgehog but Larcen managed to send Shadow into the ground by striking down with his heel. He landed and began to charge his dagger up again. Shadow got up, holding his head, and was oblivious to Larcen charging towards him. Larcen then struck out with his weapon but realised Shadow was gone.

Before he could realise it, Shadow appeared from behind, having used Chaos Control, and grabbed Larcen while his body turned red.

"Game over, Larcen! Chaos…" Shadow began but Larcen managed to elbow him in the gut, cancelling the attack. Shadow recoiled, giving Larcen the opening to strike out with his dagger. It sent Shadow sprawling across the floor. Before he could get back up, Larcen was already upon him, smashing his feet into the Ultimate Life Form's gut.

"Larcen wins!"

The crowd was in an uproar but Marisa somehow drowned them all out. Larcen smiled to his friend while Shadow got back up. He refused any medical treatment and took his seat.

As he sat down, he caught Rouge's eye. The look she gave him seemed to be mocking so he quickly looked away.

"Stupid bat" he mumbled. "At least I didn't resort to cheap jabs."

Sonic overheard this comment and became worried. It looked like Shadow and Rouge weren't going to forgive each other anytime soon.

"Our next fight is Aqua VS Cesare!"

Cesare came out with a look of confidence on his face. Aqua, meanwhile, was very nervous. She had seen what the guy did to Wrist and didn't like her odds. Jet, who was in the crowd, became worried for Aqua himself.

Cesare looked into the young hedgehog's eyes menacingly, causing her to look away.

"You know, if you give up now, I won't have to deal so much pain upon you" he sneered.

Aqua looked back up, determination in her eyes. "No way! I'm not surrendering! I'm gonna beat you, no matter what you do to me!"

Cesare shrugged. "Your funeral."

Suddenly, he lashed out with his sword, nearly going straight through Aqua if she hadn't swerved away quickly. The deranged crow began to repeatedly swipe his sword in Aqua's direction, hoping to impale her. She managed to dodge the hits, eventually stepping on the sword. Cesare tried pulling it up but Aqua had already roundhouse kicked him in the face. He realised his lip (or beak) was bleeding. Enraged he charged at her, but the water user had already formed a torrent of bubbles and sent them in his direction. She smirked, thinking they would blind him, but she was wrong.

Cesare, somehow, slashed through the bubbles and swept his sword across, cutting her shirt. She looked down and saw a faint cut. Taken aback, she couldn't defend herself from Cesare backhanding her. He kicked her to the floor and brought his sword down. Thankfully, she rolled out of the way, quickly getting up. She fumbled for a vial of water but she was so scared she couldn't grab one properly. By the time she did, Cesare had kicked her in the gut.

She fell to the floor again, and began to back away from the psychotic bird. She flipped back up to avoid his sword sticking into the ground. Cesare tried pulling it out but realised that it was stuck. Aqua, using this opportunity, pulled out all of her vials and combined the water to make a huge wave of water. Cesare seemed to display fear as she raised her hand and threw it down, sending the wave with it. It crashed into Cesare with such force that the walls seemed to shake. As the water came to a stop, the arena floor was soaked and Cesare lay on the floor unconscious. Aqua, surprised, jumped up with joy, the crowd cheering and whistling for her. Jet smirked with glee, as did Wave and Storm but he noticed something and his smile was replaced with shock.

"AQUA, LOOK OUT!" he yelled but it was too late. A sword was sent deep into the shoulder and she screamed in pain as blood began to seep out at a violent rate. Cesare stood over her, looking quite pleased.

"Rule number 1. Don't let your guard down. Next time, leave the fighting to real warriors" he told her as he removed his sword and walked off.

"Cesare wins!" the commentator cried but the crowd simply booed, but it couldn't be heard over Aqua's screams of pain.

Amy and Rouge, along with Jet ran down to help her. Medics got her onto a stretcher and took her to the medical wing as fast as they could. Amy and Rouge went with them but Jet stayed put. Clenching his fist, he knew that Cesare was REALLY going to pay for this!


	26. Round 2 Part 5

**I hope that this is an improvement, length wise. R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 26

Last time, Shadow suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Larcen while Aqua was greatly injured while fighting Cesare, who she lost too.

* * *

The commentator was just announcing the next fight. "Our next fight is Blaze VS…"

He stopped when a black cloud rose from the ground. The lavender cat had already rushed out to face it. She knew all to well who it was.

"Mephiles!" she snarled with distaste as the crystal being emerged.

"Well, well, well. Blaze is my opponent. Good. I need a challenge. That last girl was far too easy. She should've stayed at home, then maybe she wouldn't be on the brink of death" Mephiles mocked.

Blaze was already pissed off and didn't hesitate to charge straight for him. She shot out with her heel, connecting with the demon's face. He was knocked back slightly, his eyes burning with rage.

"If that's how you want to play, then let's go!"

Mephiles reeled back his hand and shot out several purple spheres that exploded at Blaze's feet, forcing her to flip back. While she was in the air, Mephiles shot more at her. Thankfully, the agile cat was able to avoid them. She landed and made another dash for Mephiles, surrounding herself in a fiery tornado. Mephiles however simply jumped over the attack and fired a purple laser at it once he landed. Blaze was forced out of the attack and sent across the ground. She tried to get up but Mephiles had his foot on her back.

"Come on. Don't tell me you're giving up now?" he joked but Blaze was smirking.

"I'm just getting warmed up!"

Mephiles raised an eyebrow, until he realised Blaze was heating he body up. He jumped off; wincing at the burns on his foot, giving Blaze the perfect opportunity to slash at him, with her claws alit. Mephiles was able to dodge the impending strikes but Blaze managed to turn this into her favour by distracting him before kicking him straight up.

As he was in the air, Blaze jumped after him, fire beginning to shroud her body. The demon however saw this coming and flipped himself so he was facing down towards her and fired another purple laser at her. She was unable to dodge the attack and was sent hurtling down at a great speed. She slammed into the ground, kicking off dust. She lay there with her eyes closed, trying to fight the pain. Mephiles had that evil glint in his eye and began to dive at her, his claw becoming engulfed with darkness.

Blaze managed to recompose herself before the attack hit. She flipped out of the small crater she made and used her own version of the Spin Dash at him. But Mephiles played his hand by shooting out several Chaos Spears. Blaze was knocked out of her dash and was burned by the attack. She shook her head, refusing to give in but Mephiles was running towards her. He threw a fist but she managed to catch it. Mephiles threw his other one but Blaze caught that too.

"I have noticed you're becoming steadily weaker" the dark being gloated. "How about giving up now?"

"No! I will NOT let you get away with what you did!" Blaze growled, pushing against him with all her might.

Mephiles chuckled at her feeble attempts until he noticed that smoke was coming from her hands. He pulled back, his hands alit with flames. He cried with anger but that was short-lived when Blaze jumped and kicked him across the face, spinning in the air as she did. His head was knocked off his shoulders and into the wall with a splat.

"Mephiles appears to be defeated, making Blaze the winner!"

The crowd let out a huge cheer for Blaze. Sonic, Shadow, Silver and Axel all jumped down to her, looking incredibly pleased. Sonic even gave her a hug, much to Silver's annoyance.

"Thank you so much Blaze. I owe you a lot. As does Axel" Sonic said, his brother giving a silent nod. Blaze said it was nothing, letting Silver give her a kiss for winning.

Shadow looked over to find Mephiles gone. Where did he go? he thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the arena in an alley, Mephiles was fitting his head back onto his body.

"Damn that cat! Damn her! Damn her! Damn her!" he yelled in his fury.

"My, you certainly have a temper" another voice said. Mephiles turned to face Starbright.

"Oh shut up" he snapped. "Don't smart mouth me!"

"I'm just saying. I thought the great Mephiles would've lasted longer in this tournament" she sniggered.

Mephiles turned round to face her properly, his green eyes seemingly digging into her soul.

"You'd best shut up now! Or do you want me to tell everyone who you are?" he threatened.

At these words, Starbright's normally calm and calculated persona was replaced with fear.

"Oh god, please don't! I'll stop. I promise" she cried.

"Good. Now, I may be out but you're still in and I don't doubt your abilities. You should be able to win this. In the meantime, with Shadow out too, I may find the perfect opportunity to kill him" Mephiles explained. "But that's not important right now. Win this tournament and don't fail me!"

Starbright gave a grim nod as Mephiles vanished in a purple orb.

* * *

Back in the arena, "Our next fight is Emily VS Amelia!"

The cheetah and the wolf entered the arena and gave a friendly nod to each other. Emil's paw began to glow blue while Amelia pulled out an arrow.

"Good luck to you" said Emily.

Amelia chuckled. "I'm afraid you're the one who needs the luck!"

Amelia fired her arrow but Emily dodged it. The cheetah noticed that as the arrow hit, ice covered the area it hit. She remembered that Amelia had elemental arrows and knew she had to be careful.

Amelia drew another arrow but before she could release it, Emily, using her speed, had knocked her bow out of her hand and drove her claw into the wolf's gut. Amelia was sent flying back, far from her bow. However, Emily had failed to see this. She just charged at Amelia again, only she missed. Amelia managed to slide under her legs, letting the reckless feline run head first into the wall. Amelia quickly recovered her bow and fired a fire arrow. Emily dodged it but was unprepared for the three arrows that Amelia had sent in her direction.

These ones were purple on the tips and as they hit, Emily screamed in agony as they seemed to burn her flesh. Her guess was that these arrows were made of darkness. She pulled them out of her body and snapped them in two, followed by charging her Energy Claw. Amelia, not wanting to take risks, began to fire arrow after arrow at the cheetah but Emily did all she could to avoid them. Amelia was beginning to panic and fumbled for an arrow, giving Emily the chance to slash her with her claw.

Amelia was sent sprawling across the ground. She gasped with shock and rolled out of the way before Emily had pounced on her. Amelia reached back for another arrow but Emily saw it coming and easily flipped over it. The wolf tried again but to her horror, she realised she was out of arrows! Emily had a smug grin on her face.

"Give in?" she asked.

"Not likely!" Amelia replied, trying to club Emily round the head with her bow but the cheetah ducked, swept out with her foot and tripped Amelia over. She stood over her opponent, looking quite pleased.

"How about now?"

Amelia sighed. She nodded.

"Emily wins!"

The crowd once more cheered for the cheetah, especially Armand. Emily helped up Amelia and the two congratulated each other before taking their seats again.


	27. Round 2 Part 6

**I've made an attempt at making the fights longer. R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 27

Last time, Blaze was able to defeat Mephiles while Emily won against Amelia.

* * *

"Our next match is Thorn VS Ozone!"

The two hedgehogs entered the arena and nodded at each other, showing respect.

"I wish you luck" said Thorn.

"You too" replied Ozone. "I saw you fight and hopefully, you'll be a challenge!"

Thorn gave off a smirk before throwing a fireball in Ozone's direction. The yellow hedgehog however teleported behind Thorn and sent a kick to the back. But Thorn turned round sharply and caught his leg before it could hit. Ozone in the end turned it into his favour by spinning and hitting Thorn with his other foot. The sorcerer staggered back but Ozone punched him in the gut, sending him upward.

While in the air, Thorn saw Ozone prepare a Chaos Spear. Through quick thinking, Thorn fired a thunder spell that made Ozone roll out of the way. This gave Thorn the chance to land and shoot an ice spell at his opponent. Ozone didn't see it coming and his whole left arm was frozen. Staring in disbelief, he was unprepared for Thorn punching him round the face, followed by a knee to the gut.

Thorn seemed to have the upper hand. Ozone had the strength to break the ice but if he did, he'd rip his own arm off. This left him at a disadvantage. He began to teleport all over the place, avoiding Thorn's attempts to electrocute him.

This is bad, Ozone thought. How am I supposed to win with only one arm? He then remembered at the start of the battle. Thorn used fire magic. A smirk developing on his face, Ozone appeared in front of Thorn and stuck his tounge out. Thorn was taken aback by this and was unprepared for Ozone to start slapping him round the face. Ozone then backed off and began to pull faces. Thorn was getting pissed off and when Ozone flipped him off, he cried out.

"You're really becoming a nuisance!" he yelled, throwing a fireball. Ozone smiled that his plan had worked. He dodged the fireball but it left a small flame where it landed. Ozone placed his arm near it and the ice melted. Thorn, realising he had been tricked, conjured up some wind magic. Ozone covered his face with his arm as dust was blown at him. Because of this, Thorn had the opportunity to rush up and punch him in the gut. He then kicked Ozone round the head, knocking him into the dirt. He then formed another fireball and threw it at the fallen hedgehog but Ozone quickly flipped back up to avoid it.

He made a jump at Thorn but the sorcerer used lightning magic to electrocute Ozone. He then propelled Ozone into the wall using wind magic. Not willing to give up, Ozone got back up and stood his ground. Thorn decided to use all he had and began to throw fireballs one after the other. Ozone began to run from them but Thorn had a good aim and one eventually landed at his feet, causing him to somersault through the air. Thorn fired an ice spell but Ozone quickly teleported to avoid it. He appeared behind Thorn, grabbed him by the back of the head and swung him into the wall. The sorcerer attempted to get back up but Ozone rammed into Thorn again. He was crushed against the wall and Ozone let him slip onto the ground.

"Ozone wins!"

The crowd cheered for Ozone, though Amy was slightly disappointed at Thorn's loss. Thankfully, he wasn't injured that badly but Ozone still used the same technique he used on Vector to heal him.

"Thanks for the challenge" said Ozone shaking Thorn's hand.

"Likewise" he replied and the two returned to their seats.

* * *

"Our next fight is Havoc VS Kyira!"

Havoc was greeted with cheers, which he accepted greatly but when Kyira came out, the crowd began to boo. The half demon attempted to block it out while Havoc walked up to her.

"Good luck" he said.

Kyira simply nodded. The two then jumped back before charging. They pushed against each other, neither showing signs of backing down. Then Kyira swept out with her tails and knocked Havoc over. He quickly got back up but Kyira nailed a kick into his stomach. He was sent sprawling across the ground. He got back up to see Kyira already running towards him. Through quick thinking, he flipped himself over Kyira, bouncing off of her head and, fully concentrating, he threw a Chaos Spear at her. It was enough to greatly damage her.

Kyira gritted her teeth as she fought the pain. Turning, she saw Havoc attempting a punch which she blocked with her arm. However, the freelancer threw his other fist right into Kyira's face. She was knocked back and she held her mouth, blood trickling down. She also noticed he dislodged a tooth. Enraged, she got on all fours, snarling while a red aura began to cover her. Havoc was taken aback slightly and pulled out his knife. The demon fox charged at him with amazing speed, slamming into him. But as she did, Havoc sent the knife into her shoulder. Kyira stopped to pull the knife out. As she did, Havoc jumped and began to spin in the air, repeatedly kicking her in the face.

When he stopped, he noticed that the aura was stronger than ever. He began to get slightly creeped out. Kyira threw the knife on the floor and made another dash. Havoc, using his speed, jumped over the charging fox and made a run for his knife. This was a mistake. As he tried to pick it up, Kyira had quickly turned and rammed into him, sending him flying forward. As he landed, she jumped and slammed her tails onto him with as much force as she had. Havoc struggled to get back up but Kyira picked him up, slashed him across the face and kicked him in the gut, sending him into the wall with a thud. He didn't get back up.

"Kyira wins!" the commentator cried but the crowd booed again. Sighing, Kyira returned to her seat, avoiding the icy glares she got. Zero accompanied the medics as they took Havoc away.

Once Havoc was in the ward, Zero went up to him and asked "What do we do now?"

Havoc looked at his friend. "Well, now that we're out of the tournament, I say we find out who's behind this!"


	28. Round 2 Part 7

**Soz for late update. I haven't been feeling motivated but I made myself do it. Fights have gone downhill since the last chapter so be warned.**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 28

Last time, Ozone was able to defeat Thorn after a long winded battle while Kyira beat Havoc, much to the audience's disdain.

* * *

"Our next fight is Eggman VS Shade!" blared the announcer. Both doctor and echidna walked out. Everyone was booing Eggman, who still didn't seem to care. Shade was clearly focused, knowing she couldn't lose.

"So, we fight at long last" Eggman sneered. "This should prove interesting."

Shade drew her Leech Blade and said "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you!"

The echidna made a dash at the doctor but his Egg Walker jumped to incredible heights before she could land a hit. She was taken aback and wasn't prepared for the walker's return to the ground. The lumbering machine barely missed her but she was still thrown forward by the shockwave that it made when it landed. Eggman grinned as he began to fire his guns at the echidna but Shade was agile and continuously dodged the bullets.

This is too easy, Shade thought. But years of training taught her that one should never let their guard down. Shade decided to take a risk and jumped into the air and made a dive at the walker, knowing it was slow and easy to hit. But Eggman fired a missile at the airborne echidna. Her eyes widened as it got closer but she managed to grab hold of it and began to copy Sonic's missile riding technique. She nearly lost her balance but when she recovered, she seemed to lose herself in the thrill of it.

So this is what it likes to be carefree, she thought. Her attention was brought back when she heard a ticking sound coming from the missile. Panicking slightly, she quickly jumped off, the missile exploding as she fell. She turned this to her advantage and divebombed, her Leech Blade drawn, leaving purple specks in her wake. She struck down the centre of the walker and waited for its effect. Nothing happened.

"What the…" she started to say but she was interrupted by Eggman's chortling.

"Hohohoho! You honestly thought I wouldn't come prepared! Before the fight started, I looked over who my possible opponents were and so, I upgraded my walker in emergencies. To combat you, I made my walker resistant to Nocturnus technology!" the doctor revealed.

He quickly pressed a button and a boxing glove was sent into Shade's face, sending her into the wall. Shade growled to herself as she peeled herself off.

That's great, she thought sarcastically. How can I destroy that thing when my technology won't work? Then, an idea struck her. Eggman may be a genius but he had a tendency to overlook things. Smirking, she made a dash for the walker. Eggman smirked as he began to unload his guns. Shade did her best to avoid the shots and made another risky jump. This time, she landed on top of Eggman's head, covering his eyes.

"HEY! Get off me!" he yelled, attempting to shake the echidna off but she was persistent. While keeping a hold of Eggman, she drew her Leech Blade and struck the control panel. Luck must've been on her side because it began to spark as the walker shut down.

"You may have protected the outside," she said, "But you didn't think about the inside!"

With her work done, Shade jumped off, leaving Eggman to face the explosion. As the dust settled, the Egg Walker was in a scrap and Eggman was covered with dust, his moustache smoking.

"I always hated echidnas" he muttered before fainting.

"Shade has won!" cried the commentator, with the crowd cheering as Eggman was dragged off by the medics. Shade smiled and returned to her seat. She was greeted with congratulations from the Sonic Heroes.

"Way to go, Shade!" cried Sonic.

"Yeah, you certainly turned the tables" said Silver.

Knuckles just sat there with a smile on his face.

"You did well, Shade" he complimented. The peach echidna began to blush slightly before turning away and taking her seat.

"Thanks" she muttered. Amy raised an eyebrow. Why did she have such a hard time confessing her love for Knuckles? She finds it easy telling Sonic. But… he never seems to care. Amy began to feel slightly depressed but she was knocked out of it when the commentator spoke again.

"Our next fight is Metal Havoc VS Omega!"

Tension suddenly built in the air. The two mechs appeared and slowly made there way towards each other, both showing no emotion. MH began to crackle electricity between his fingers while Omega reloaded. As they came face-to-face, no one said anything. An eerie silence filled the air. Suddenly, the two turned their backs on each other and began to take slow steps away from each other. Nobody knew what was going on when suddenly, they quickly turned round and fired. Metal had pulled out his gatling gun and began to shoot but Omega had sent a missile so the bullets caused it to blow up.

MH swiped at the smoke to get a better view but all he got was a silver fist to the face. He recoiled and allowed Omega to pull him into a bear hug and crush him. It looked the fight was already over but MH began to electrocute Omega, freeing himself. The ex-Eggman mech was disorientated and MH was able to kick him to the floor. Omega tried to push himself up but MH put his foot on him.

"Game over" he said, maliciously but Omega aimed his guns and began to fire. The bullets bounced off of MH, but he was still forced off. Omega managed to get up while still firing but MH was getting pissed. He fired another bolt of electricity at Omega. It didn't make him fall over but it still stopped him firing. MH dashed at Omega and swiped across Omega's front, leaving a gash in his chest. Omega began to stumble, clearly losing energy but he turned to face the robot duplicate of Havoc and fired his laser (don't make any 'lazar' jokes). MH fired more electricity to try and fight against the laser. The thunder formed to make its own neon blue laser which pushed against Omega's cyan one. Eventually, MH prevailed, his lightning going straight into Omega. He began to spark whilst repeating "Malfunction! Malfunction!" before shutting down and collapsing.

"Metal Havoc wins!" the commentator yelled but no one cheered. They were still in shock. Shadow was the only one who wasn't agape. He stared at MH, hate brimming in his eyes. Omega was picked up by the medics; along with some mechanics while MH strolled off, thinking the same thing.

"Once I get those emeralds, I'll make sure your death will be painful, Havoc!"

**R&R! And if you haevn't already, check out my new story, Sonic Brawl: Twilight Emperor. It's a joint project with Babylon Sky Hawk so it must be good! Check it out and R&R!**


	29. Round 2 Part 8

**Final part of Round 2. I hope DS92 likes what I did with Chrono. R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 29

Last time, Shade was able to eliminate Eggman from the tournament while Omega was defeated by Metal Havoc. Now only four more contenders remained.

* * *

"Our next fight is Starbright VS Metal Sonic!"

As the two fighters entered the arena, Sonic stared at both of them. Normally, he'd place bets on Metal winning but after seeing Starbright in action, he wasn't entirely sure. Either way, sparks were gonna fly.

The two met in the centre and merely glared at each other. Unknown to anyone, Metal was actually scanning the mysterious girl but his results proved fruitless.

"That's strange. There's no record of you in any databanks. Who are you?" Metal asked.

"That's something you don't need to concern yourself with" she threatened, reeling out her foot but Metal was faster. He grabbed her ankle and threw her across the ground behind him. Starbright quickly flipped back up and charged again but as before, Metal was a step ahead of her. He turned round and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her to the floor. Groaning, she got back up in time to avoid a blast of lightning from Metal. With electricity crackling between his fingers, Metal made a dash at Starbright. Any normal person wouldn't have been able to dodge something that fast. But Starbright wasn't normal.

Metal lunged his claw out but the girl leaned back to avoid it. She struck her foot up to knock away Metal's fist before slamming her elbow in the robot's centre. Metal staggered from the hit and was unable to defend himself from Starbright's flurry of punches. The last one sent him spinning through the air before crashing on his front.

As he lay there, Starbright pulled out her weapon, stood on Metal's back and aimed it at his head.

"I suggest you give up!" she threatened but Metal was laughing.

"If there's one thing I don't do, it's give up!" he replied, rolling across the ground, knocking Starbright off. He got back up and slammed his claw into the space where she would be standing if she hadn't moved. Metal growled and tried to pull his claw out but it was stuck firmly into the ground. Smirking behind her helmet, Starbright aimed her weapon and fired. The bolt of blue energy struck Metal, freeing him from the ground but he was badly damaged as he rolled across the ground.

As he slowly stood back up, he heard a beeping noise.

"Warning! Energy levels depleting! Immediate shutdown in approximately five minutes!" a voice said.

"Damn!" Metal cursed. "What kind of weapon is that?"

Starbright began to explain. "This thing shoots Chaos Energy in a condensed form. On a normal person, it does heavy damage. But on robots, it causes a side effect that leaves them running on minimum power. You've lost!"

"Don't count me out yet!" Metal roared, making a dash at Starbright. Despite his low energy, he still moved with amazing speed. He aimed his claw for Starbright's face, intent on scarring her. But she dodged at the last second. His claw scraped past her helmet, ripping some of it off. She quickly turned round and fired at Metal's back, injuring him more.

"WARNING! Energy levels nearly depleted. Immediate shutdown in approximately two minutes!"

Metal growled. His next hit had to count. Using his remaining energy, he charged up a large amount of electricity in his claw and fired it. Sadly, Starbright flipped over it. Her hand began to glow with a blue aura as she charged it with Chaos Energy before slamming it down on top of Metal's head. He was sent into the floor as the warning alarm got quieter.

"WARNING! Energy levels nearly depleted. Immediate shutdown in…"

The voice died away as the light in Metal's eyes faded.

"Starbright is the winner!"

Like in Gale's fight, the crowd sat there in awe. Shadow stared at her in interest and caught a glimpse of her face. Metal had ripped off the part of the helmet that was covering the left side of her face and he caught a glimpse of her left eye. It was blue. And it was familiar. Starbright caught Shadow staring at her and quickly left the arena. Shadow was thinking of chasing after her when he decided against it. He was probably imagining it.

Meanwhile, Sonic was staring at Metal's body as it was dragged away by mechanics. That girl defeated both Gale and Metal, he thought. He didn't know Gale for long so he couldn't really tell how good of a fighter he was but Metal was tough. Anybody who could beat him single handily was clearly someone who didn't mess around. He'd have to keep an eye on her. After all, she is working with Mephiles. His attention was taken back to the arena as the commentator announced the last fight.

"Our final fight is Alexander VS Chrono!"

The crowd let out a boo as the snake entered. Both snake and tanuki were clearly serious about the fight, judging by the looks on their faces.

As they met in the centre, Alexander spoke. "So, Chrono. I believe you're a master of time."

Chrono nodded. "What's it to ya?"

"Nothing" the snake replied. "I just think it's slightly cowardly. I mean, you barely give anyone a chance. Sometimes you don't even let them see you. Why? Afraid of suffering a humiliating defeat?"

Chrono was getting irritated by Alexander's remarks but he saw what he did to Silver and he was trying not to fall down the same road, so he played it cool.

"Fine. I'll beat you, with or without my powers!" he declared.

The snake smirked. "Very well." Suddenly, he lashed out with his fist, slamming it into Chrono's gut. The tanuki was taken aback by the sudden attack and was unable to defend himself from the numerous punches he got.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Alexander mocked as he punched. "Come on. Use your powers! Take the coward's way out!"

"I… am not… A COWARD!!!"

Chrono shoved the snake away from him and knocked him away with his claymore. The sadistic reptile was knocked to the floor but he was laughing.

"Hahahaha. Anger. There's an emotion I'm familiar with. You're almost like that white hedgehog" Alexander said.

Chrono snarled at the snake, slamming his claymore into the snake's back. Despite the pain, the snake continued to laugh.

"That's right. Let it out. Let it all out!" he demanded but Chrono grabbed him by the neck and glared at him.

"I think it's pretty clear who wins this!" he growled.

"Really? Well, just before I lose, let me ask you this. Why do you use your time powers? I mean, is it because you're afraid of losing? Or is it because, you feel useless without them?" the snake asked.

Chrono raised an eyebrow at the last sentence.

"You know the word useless, right? It's like… Pathetic, weak, helpless. Helpless!" the snake cried, as he said the last word. "That's the reason! You feel you can't protect anyone! You failed to protect didn't you? Were they special?" Alexander questioned.

Chrono was getting fed up with the reptile. He was getting angrier with each word he said and each one was jabbing at a nerve in his brain. He bore his teeth as he whispered, "Any last words?"

"Yeah," the snake replied. "You need to pay more attention."

A gunshot went off and Chrono dropped Alexander as he held his bleeding stomach. The brown snake had pulled out his gun as he was distracting the tanuki. He aimed it at the defenceless Chrono.

"One more shot" he sneered, moving the gun towards the GUE agent's leg.

Chrono growled but at himself. He was manipulated so easily. It looked like he had lost when he heard a voice. It was Silver's.

"Chrono! Don't give in! He's using your weakness against you! You have to fight back!" the white hedgehog yelled.

"Oh, be quiet" Alexander responded. "Chrono's lost. Haven't you?" He turned to the tanuki but he was gone.

"TIME BOOSTER!"

Suddenly, Chrono began to dash past Alexander several times, striking him with his claymore. He continued this until the snake was unconscious.

"I'm not a coward" Chrono spat before fainting.

"Alexander fell first, making Chrono the winner!"

The crowd cheered for the tanuki as both fighters were dragged off to the medical ward. Silver looked pleased. Blaze turned to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"That was really sweet, Silver" she commented.

"Well, rather him and that snake" Silver replied. The two exchanged smiles as the commentator said "Well, that's the end of Round 2. Don't forget. Same time tomorrow for Round 3!"


	30. Confessions

**

* * *

**

Even though I've been looking foward to this bit, it feels slightly bad. I hope SlashBandicoot43 and Babylon Sky Hawk like it. R&R!

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 30

Last time, Starbright and Chrono won their matches against Metal and Alexander, ending Round 2.

* * *

Right now, the Sonic Team were in the medical ward, checking up on some of the patients. Right now, they were seeing to Aqua.

"Are you OK?" asked Amy with concern.

Aqua gave a brave smile. "Yeah, it still stings but they say I can leave in half an hour."

Suddenly, they heard a groan and they turned to the bed next to Aqua. Strike was waking up.

"Uh, where am I?" he asked.

"Hey, bro!" cried Sonic. "How're you feeling?"

"Dizzy. What'd I miss?"

So, the heroes explained to Strike what he missed. He congratulated Blaze on beating Mephiles and cursed when he found out what Cesare did to Aqua.

"That crow's gonna pay when I get hold of him!" he yelled, before wincing in pain.

"Easy there" said Sonic. "You may be awake but your wound's still bad."

"Well, it's better than it was this morning" Strike commented. He then noticed Axel's presence.

"Come to gloat, have you?" he asked. The answer he got wasn't one he was expecting.

"No. I wanted to say… I'm sorry. For being harsh to you" the scruffy hedgehog replied.

Everyone's eyes widened. "What?" Strike gasped. "Why are you apologising now?"

Axel drew a breath. "Well, you saved me from that Nazo's attack, despite how badly I treated you. I realised that I was being a jerk. You see, I never actually hated you."

Now everyone was confused. "If you never hated me, why did you say I should never have been born?" asked Strike.

"Because I was angry with my… our dad. The fact he betrayed mum like that and had you. I wanted to yell at him but since he's not here, I took it out on you instead. I can only hope you can forgive me" Axel finished.

Strike laid there, his eyes completely widened. But his shocked expression was replaced with a friendly smile. "No problem, bro."

Axel smiled and the two bashed fists.

"Well, I'm glad that's worked out" sighed Sonic.

"Same here."

Everyone turned to the voice. It was Sally.

"Sally! You're awake!" Strike cried.

"Yep. It still hurts but I'm well enough to walk" Sally told them.

"Well, this day just got better" said Silver. "How about we celebrate?"

Everyone agreed, but Strike yelled "HEY! I'm still stuck here!"

* * *

Once Strike and Aqua were out of the ward, the heroes decided to go on a night about the park. It was nearly perfect but Shadow and Rouge were still giving each other the cold shoulder. Once it reached sunset, the group took a break.

Sally was sitting on a bench when she saw someone approach her. "Damien?"

The golden dog nodded. "It's good to see you're up." His face then turned serious. "Listen, Mario hasn't been acting right. Maybe you could talk to him?"

Sally nodded eager to help her friend out. She found him looking over the edge. She approached him slowly, not wanting to startle him.

"Hey there" she greeted. Mario swung round and saw the young hedgehog.

"Sally, you're… alright" he said, his face a mixture of surprise and happiness. Sally grinned, pulling him into a quick hug but he felt stiff.

"Is something wrong? Damien said you weren't acting normally" she said.

Mario began to act shifty. "Well, when you were still in the ward, I lost in the second round to that Armand guy."

"Well, that's OK. It's not that big of a deal" Sally replied but Mario's face told another story.

"But when I lost, I became angered and threatened to kill him. Normally, I wouldn't care but I wanted to get further so I could get back at that crystal freak!"

Sally got curious. "But… I'm OK, aren't I? And what would hurting that guy do to help?"

"That's the point. There was another reason for my actions. I never thought it would happen but it did. I have to confess this to you so I can confess it to myself" Mario sighed before turning to face her directly.

"Sally" Mario began to say. "I-I-I..."

Sally stared at her friend, wondering what he was trying to say. "Yes?"

"I-I-I can't say it!" Mario collapsed with defeat. "I don't know what it is! But... the more I look at you, the more I want to be with you!"

Sally was taken aback by the outburst. "Mario, to be brutally honest… it sounds like you have… feelings. Certain feelings."

Mario got back up slowly. "I know but… I haven't felt like this in a long time. For years, I had lost the will to care for someone close but since meeting you…"

He turned back; suddenly realising they were really close. Before either knew what was happening, they were kissing passionately. They staid there for ages, blissfully unaware of the people watching.

"I can't believe Mario's kissing a girl" whistled Damien.

"I can't believe he's kissing **my **sister!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Ah, the overprotective sibling" Axel muttered.

Strike turned to him. "You're thinking the same thing aren't you?"

"Yes."

* * *

After the lovebirds had broken away, they left to be by themselves, much to Sonic and Axel's disdain. Sonic was busy going off on a tangent to the rest who weren't bothering to listen.

"I mean, she's fourteen! She shouldn't be going out yet for another few years!"

"God, Sonic. Can't you just shut up about it?" Knuckles moaned.

"No! I'm not happy with her going out at her age!" the blue hedgehog retaliated.

"Now you know how I felt when you left the island" another voice spoke.

Sonic whipped round, coming face to face with his mother, Queen Aleena.

"MUM! When did you get here?"

"I arrived only just now. It wasn't too hard to find you" she said, referring to how loud he'd been talking.

"So you already know about Sally?" he asked.

"Pretty much and I have no complaints" Aleena replied. Her gaze then drifted to Axel and Strike.

"I hope Axel hasn't been treating you harshly, Strike."

"No, as a matter of fact. He's finally realised how big of an idiot he was" Strike responded.

Axel nodded. "Yeah… HEY!"

Aleena chuckled before giving her greetings to the rest of the team.

"Hey, how about we show you round the park?" suggested Tails.

The rest agreed and so, Sonic, Axel, Strike, Tails, Knuckles and Amy decided to give her a tour.

* * *

As they were going around, they explained what was happening. She was pleased to hear about Sonic making it so far but disappointed about Axel, Sally and Strike. They decided to leave out the bit about Sally's fight against Mephiles. They were walking near a bar when they heard singing.

"Yo ho ho ho! A pirate's life for me!" it said.

Aleena stiffened at the sound, as did Knuckles. He turned to see Wrist completely drunk.

"DAD!" he yelled, running towards the echidna. "What have I told you about drinking?" He didn't get an answer. What he did get was vomit all over him. A nearby Thorn couldn't help but giggle.

"Dad, it's not funny" scolded Amy.

"Oh, lighten up. This is the highlight of the evening" said Thorn, pulling out a camera and taking a picture of Wrist's drunken form.

Gale was also slightly drunk. "You know guys. You're the best friends a guy could have" he slurred, leaning in Kyira's direction. She seemed slightly disgusted.

"Oh, get off!" she yelled pushing Gale off of her. As she did, she saw Aleena nearby and nearly fell off of her stool.

"Aleena?" she muttered.

Thorn and Wrist heard her and turned as well. They both sobered up. Sonic and the others were looking back and forth, unsure of what was going on. Aleena moved forward, still slightly speechless, her gaze focused on the adult hedgehog.

"Gale?"

Hearing his name, the drunken hedgehog turned round, immediately sobering as he saw her.

"Aleena?"

Now things were getting confusing. "Uh, mum. How do you know Gale?" asked Sonic.

Aleena seemed to wince at the question. "I should've seen this coming" she muttered before turning, a serious expression on her face.

"Sonic. Your father wasn't Jules."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Of course he was."

Aleena shook her head. "No. He was your stepfather. Your real father is…" She didn't need to finish.

A stony silence filled the air. Strike, Axel, Tails, Knuckles and Amy stood in silence as Sonic took this in. All he said was,

"My father's… Gale?"


	31. Round 3 Part 1

**Sorry for short fights. Things are going to focus more on the story than the fights now**

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 31

Last time, Round 3 had ended and Mario confessed his love for Sally. At the same time, Aleena arrived and ran into Gale and his crew, instantly recognizing them. She then revealed that Gale was Sonic's real father.

* * *

Sonic woke up in his hotel room. He didn't bother wondering how he got here. He was still playing over last night's events.

_Flashback_

"Sonic. Your father wasn't Jules."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Of course he was."

Aleena shook her head. "No. He was your stepfather. Your real father is…" She didn't need to finish.

A stony silence filled the air. Strike, Axel, Tails, Knuckles and Amy stood in silence as Sonic took this in. All he said was,

"My father's… Gale?"

_End Flashback_

Last thing he remembered was everything going black. He must've fainted and carried back to the hotel. Now, Sonic wasn't one to let things get to him but, right now, he didn't want to see anyone. The fact that his mother had lied to him enraged him. And not just him. She had lied to Axel, Sally and Strike. They weren't his real siblings at all.

And Gale. Where was he for the last 15 years? Why did he just abandon his only son? The very thought made Sonic slam the wall in anger. A couple of seconds later, Amy opened the door.

"Sonic? The third round's about to start" she said, somewhat nervously. Sonic said nothing and just left. Amy was worried about him. And she wasn't the only one.

On the way to the arena, everyone stayed quiet. No doubt they had found out too. Axel, Sally and Strike were very quiet. After all, they were wrapped up in this too.

As they entered, sonic didn't hear the first numbers and simply grabbed a leaflet and took his seat. He noticed his fight was the penultimate one. He was against 49. While he sat there, he saw Gale and Aleena sitting next to each other. He snarled, crushing the leaflet in his hand. Strike, who was sitting next to him, noticed black streaks flowing off of Sonic's body. He thought he was imagining it and shrugged it off, although he took one last look at Gale as well before the commentator spoke.

"Welcome, ladies and gents to the third round of Tournament of the Stars!"

The crowd cheered as normal, eagerly anticipating the next couple of fights.

"Our first fight is Emily VS Metal Havoc!"

Emily and MH walked on, giving each other death glares. Everyone knew MH was tough and began placing their bets already. Armand was incredibly worried for his girlfriend's safety but he kept his confidence.

As the two approached the centre, they simply stared at each other before MH said "I suggest you back out now."

"No way! I'm not giving up when I've made it this far!" Emily retaliated.

"Did you see what I did to the duck and robot? I could quite easily do the same to you" the evil machine threatened but Emily wasn't moving.

"Very well" was all he said before kicking Emily right across the ground. The crowd gasped but Emily quickly got back up and lunged at MH. But he was quicker and easily dodged her tackle, following it up with another kick to the back. The cheetah was knocked forward and pushed herself up. She turned to face MH but he was gone. It didn't take long to find out where he was.

Before the cheetah could do anything, MH had fired a bolt of electricity at close range, sending her through the air until she crashed into the wall. She stumbled while trying to get back up, her claw glowing with blue energy. With all her strength, she charged at MH but the robot didn't bother getting out of the way.

"How predictable" he muttered, preparing to fire another bolt of electricity. But to his surprise, Emily flipped over him and jabbed her claw in his back. He winced at the pain, quickly turning to lash out but Emily as already out of reach.

"Why you little…" he cursed, making a dash for her but she flipped over him again, letting him slam into the wall. As she landed, she smirked until MH reappeared with his gatling gun and began to shoot at her. Panicking, she began to run, avoiding every shot. MH wasn't about to stop anytime soon and kept his finger on the trigger. He began to chase after her, firing at her feet, causing her to nearly fall over. He cornered her and aimed his gun at her leg.

"Surrender!" he demanded.

Emily showed no signs of giving up, displeasing the robot. He took careful aim and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He had run out of ammo. In his moment of weakness, Emily charged up her claw again and slashed across MH's face, causing him to reel back while she made her escape. MH was seething now and made another dash for Emily.

He jumped and landed in front of her, his hand crackling with electricity. Emily stood as still as she could. MH was clearly pissed.

"You've been a real annoyance during this fight! I am NOT losing to a girl like you, so I'm ending this right here, right now!" he snarled. "Any last words?"

"Yeah, just four" Emily replied. "You talk too much."

Then, with quick reflexes, she revealed her Energy Claw and jabbed it into MH's gut. MH's eyes widened before they faded out and he collapsed.

"Metal Havoc has been shut down, making Emily the winner!"

The crowd cheered for the cheetah, who rubbed her head in embarrassment. Mechanics came to repair Metal Havoc while she went off with the medics. Armand rushed off to join her.

"Emily, that was amazing!" he said, kissing her as a reward.

"Aw, it was nothing" she replied, quickly returning the kiss.

In the audience, Havoc was impressed. "Well, looks like he won't be bothering us anytime soon." He then turned to his echidna friend. "Come on, Zero. Let's see what we can find."

Zero nodded and left the arena with Havoc as the commentator spoke again.

"Our next fight is Shade VS Damien!"

The echidna and the dog entered, both confident. They shook hands, wishing each other luck.

"I've seen you in battle. I have to say I'm impressed" said Shade.

Damien instantly got cocky. "Well, I am probably the best fighter here. I have no worries about…" He stopped when he realised Shade was gone.

Before he knew it, Shade was behind him and roundhouse kicked him, knocking him to the floor.

"Oh, you sly…" he started but Shade interrupted him.

"You may be a good fighter but your attention span is small" she said.

Damien decided to get serious and instantly lunged for the echidna. Shade flipped back and drew her Leech Blade. Taking up a battle stance, she began to attack. Damien, surprisingly, dodged every swipe she made. Shade made one last lunge before Damien grabbed her wrist and flung her over his head.

She landed gracefully but was met with a body slam from the golden dog. He had her pinned to the floor and she couldn't move her arm that held her weapon.

"I don't think you're gonna win this" stated Damien.

"It's not over yet" smirked Shade. Damien had failed to pin her other arm down and she slapped him across the face. He recoiled from the hit, allowing Shade to get back up and strike him with her blade. Damien instantly felt his energy being drained. He began to wildly swing his arms, in a desperate attempt but Shade dodged with ease.

Suddenly, Damien began to hear voices. "This girl is making a fool out of you! Let me handle her!"

"No way, you freak!" Damien whispered angrily. "You'll only kill her."

"That's the point" the voice replied.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone in this tournament" Damien retaliated. "No matter how much…"

He was silenced by Shade's kick to the face. She had taken his moment of weakness for an extra hit. Damien was stunned slightly but made one last swipe with his arm. But Shade had dropped a smoke bomb. Damien couldn't see a thing but it didn't matter. Shade had jumped out of the haze and struck him with her Leech Blade. With more of his energy drained, Damien instantly collapsed.

"Shade wins!" the commentator announced. The crowd gave a good cheer for Shade, while medics came for Damien. She felt almost sorry for him but left to take her seat. Mario decided to see to his friend. He gave Sally a quick peck on the cheek before taking off. On his way, he made a quick glance towards Sonic. As if by instinct, the blue hedgehog's eyes focused on him. Now Mario was normally level headed but the look on Sonic's face terrified him. Also, his eyes were completely blank. He couldn't help but feel there was something wrong with Sonic but didn't dwell on it.

Sonic, meanwhile, turned away from Mario, his eyes returning to normal but the same thought was running through his mind. It felt like his own but at the same time, it wasn't. It was repeating the same two words,

"Kill Gale."


	32. Round 3 Part 2

**Finally, an update! Enjoy**

**Sonic and co owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 32

Last time, Emily managed to scrape a victory against Metal Havoc while Shade defeated Damien, who was distracted by voices in his head.

* * *

"Our next fight is Chrono VS Blaze!"

Silver glared at the tanuki as he entered the arena. Blaze had a serious look on her face as did Chrono. People could practically feel the sparks shooting between these two. They took their places in the centre of the arena.

"I wish you luck. You'll need it if you think you can win this" said Chrono.

"I don't think. I know" Blaze replied, back flipping whilst shooting her foot up which connected with Chrono's jaw. He was stunned by the surprise attack and didn't see Blaze run towards him and boot him across the face. He staggered again before Blaze threw a fireball at his back, knocking him to the floor.

He slowly got back up, snarling at the cat. He swung out with his claymore, attempting to strike Blaze but she hopped over it before clawing at his face. He dodged and headbutted her to the floor. He raised his claymore, intent on slamming it down, but Blaze was already up and slammed her fist into Chrono's stomach.

"Alright. I've had enough of this" he growled. He then took a weird looking stance. Blaze raised an eyebrow at this. Then she remembered that it was the same stance he took when he fought Storm.

"Uh oh."

"TIME BOOSTER!"

The tanuki zoomed past the lavender cat at amazing speeds, slashing past her every time. She attempted to avoid it but it was no use. Once he had stopped, Blaze was on the floor, covered with slashes and bleeding slightly.

* * *

From the sidelines, Silver's fists clenched as she tried to stand. "Come on, Blaze. Remember what I told ya."

* * *

In the arena, Chrono was panting slightly. He hadn't fully recovered from the fight with Alexander and using his time powers made him weaker. Deciding to do it the old fashioned way, he charged at Blaze, he claymore above him. He was about to slam it down when Blaze, somehow, shot out with her leg, tripping the tanuki up.

"What the…" he muttered. Blaze smirked as she stood up.

"Silver told me that you tire easily when you use your time powers. Now that you're weakened, we're even" she explained.

"A cunning plan but this fight isn't over yet!" Chrono yelled, sweeping out with his claymore. Blaze was sent skidding across the ground. She pushed herself back up with great difficulty and surrounded herself with flames. The tornado moved towards Chrono. He stood there until the last minute when he rolled out of the way. The tornado changed its trajectory and began to follow the tanuki all over the arena. Chrono was getting worn out but still ran as fast as he could. The tornado eventually stopped, revealing a tired Blaze. She looked ready to collapse. Chrono, knowing what he had to do, swung round and drew his claymore back.

"It ends now!"

He charged at the cat but he was moving awfully slow. Blaze didn't question it. She pulled her hand out to reveal a fireball that she was storing while in the tornado. She threw it at Chrono and as it hit, an explosion filled the air. Once the dust cleared, Chrono was unconscious. Smirking at her victory, Blaze finally fell to her knees and slipped into unconsciousness.

"Chrono was the first to fall so Blaze wins!"

The crowd cheered for the unconscious feline while Silver accompanied the medics who took her to the medical ward. He stared at Blaze, a smile on her face. His attention then moved to Chrono.

"It's funny" he said to himself. "Chrono had a bit of an opportunity to win. So why didn't he?" He shrugged it of, returning to the stands.

* * *

"Our next fight is Jet VS Larcen!"

Marisa once more drowned the crowd out cheering for her best friend. Both Larcen and Jet were serious about this fight. You could tell by their faces. However, once they reached the centre, Jet extended his hand.

"Best of luck" he said.

Larcen stared at the hand. He didn't take it. Jet raised an eyebrow. "Bit of a sourpuss, aren't ya?"

He then drew his fans. "Let's get this over with."

Larcen smirked. He launched himself forward but Jet swatted him away with his fans. The hawk charged at Larcen but he backflipped to avoid it. Larcen then threw a punch but Jet ducked throwing a kick that nailed Larcen in the chest. He was knocked to the ground but quickly got back up.

Jet smirked. I've got this in the bag, he thought. He then saw Larcen bring his dagger out.

"Aw snap" he said. Larcen jumped at Jet but the hawk ducked under him and swiftly turned round, slamming the metal end into the hedgehog's back. Larcen got knocked to the ground and his dagger was knocked to the edge of the arena. Larcen made a dash for it but Jet wasn't willing to let him get it.

"Gravity Dive!" he cried, raising his ark into the air and shooting forward. He got their miles before Larcen and grabbed his dagger.

"Not so tough now without your weapon, are ya?" Jet mocked.

Larcen snarled but it was replaced quickly with a grin. "I have other tricks too."

Suddenly, the necklace around Larcen's neck glowed, making Jet gasp with awe. That could be valuable, he thought. But this distracted him from Larcen's super quick punch to the face. Jet was thrown to the side, dropping the dagger, which Larcen retrieved. Still smirking, the dark blue hedgehog dashed at lightning speeds and repeatedly punched the living daylights out of Jet.

After being knocked to the floor, Jet kicked up, hitting Larcen in the face and pulling his fans out. He was about to attack but Larcen swiftly struck out with his dagger. Jet stared with horror as his fans fell apart.

"You little…" he growled but Larcen shut him up by punching him square on the beak. Jet stood there, his eyes rolling before falling back, unconscious.

"Larcen wins!" cried the commentator. Wave and Storm ran down to make sure Jet was ok. Larcen returned to the stands and went off to sit back down next to Marisa. He walked past Sonic and the two shot glances at each other. Larcen had noticed Sonic staring at him and Marisa the past couple of days but the look Sonic gave him wasn't pleasant. Larcen could've sworn he had no pupils for a split second. As he sat down, Marisa noticed the look on his face.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Larcen shook his head. "Nothing. I just think there's more to this tournament that meets the eye."


	33. Round 3 Part 3

**Yay, update! R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 33

Last time, Blaze and Larcen were successful in defeating Chrono and Jet respectively. Half of the fights were over now, leaving eight more fighters.

* * *

"Our next fight is Starbright VS Ozone!"

The yellow hedgehog entered the arena as did Starbright. Ozone seemed to have a frown on his face.

"I've seen you in battle, and by no means are you a good guy" he said, bluntly.

Starbright remained silent for a moment. "Good or bad, I'm still going to win" she finally said, taking up a fighting stance.

Ozone made the first move. He swung his fist out but Starbright easily dodged it. She countered by grabbing hold of Ozone's arm but before she could do anything, Ozone grabbed her and swung her over his head. She was sent through the air until she made contact with the wall. She slid to the ground but quickly jumped up. Ozone was running towards her so she followed suit. However, she slid under him and swung round; connecting her heel with Ozone's back, knocking him forward.

* * *

As the battle continued, Shadow felt something. He couldn't help but shudder and, by doing that, he recognised it. Making sure no one was looking; he stood up and left the arena. Rouge saw him go but didn't care. Omega saw him too.

"Where is Shadow going?" he said to himself.

* * *

Outside the arena, Shadow was walking about, trying to pinpoint the location of what he was looking for. He eventually found himself in one of the back alleys. And someone else was there.

"Hello Shadow" it said.

"Mephiles."

* * *

Back in the arena, Ozone was being forced back by Starbright's quick fire punches. He finally managed to block one and punched back. Starbright fell back and Ozone jumped intent on smashing into her. Starbright was clever though and shot her feet up to kick Ozone away. The hedgehog landed with a thud and stood up to see Starbright bring her gun out.

"Resorting to weapons, are we?" he mocked.

"I never said I was an honest fighter" she replied, firing a shot of blue energy at him. But Ozone easily jumped over it. Starbright continued to fire but Ozone dodged every single shot. Soon, Ozone was close enough to land a kick across Starbright's face. She dropped the gun and was unable to defend herself when Ozone fired a Chaos Spear close range. She was sent through the air, hitting the ground with a thud.

* * *

Back outside, Shadow was thrown out of the alleyway and into one of the food stalls. He looked up with hate as Mephiles approached him. The black hedgehog charged up into a Spin Dash and shot himself at the crystal demon. But Mephiles stepped to the side to avoid it but Shadow quickly unrolled and shot out a kick into Mephiles' back.

The demon turned round and the two began to exchange punches, blocking each others. Shadow eventually nailed one across the face, sending Mephiles into a lamppost. Shadow then Chaos Controlled to Mephiles and began to rapidly punch and kick him. He flipped back to avoid a swipe from Mephiles' claw. The time demon was clearly pissed.

"You are becoming even more of a nuisance!" he snarled.

Shadow pointed an accusing finger at Mephiles. "You're up to something. Who's Starbright?"

"Wouldn't you like to know" Mephiles replied. Shadow wasn't sure what he meant but he didn't have time as Mephiles was already upon him with a purple laser coming from his hand, which Shadow dodged by twisting. After that, Mephiles lunged himself at Shadow, claws outstretched.

* * *

In the arena, Starbright and Ozone were tired and breathing heavily from the fight. Ozone, gritting his teeth, teleported behind Starbright and kneed her in the back. The armour-clad warrior was sent across the ground and came across her weapon that she had dropped. She quickly grabbed it and pulled a strange substance out and poured it into the barrel. She then flipped back up before Ozone's fist got her. As she flipped through the air, she fired a shot from her gun which struck Ozone in the chest. He was knocked to the floor but quickly recuperated.

"Hah. That didn't even…" he began to say before his eyes widened and he clutched where his heart was and began to groan in pain. He began to cough vibrantly, prompting medics onto the scene.

"What's the matter?" one of the medics asked.

Ozone stammered as he answered. "Germanium. I'm… weak… to… it" he managed to say as they took him away.

"Ozone can clearly no longer fight, making Starbright the winner!"

The crowd booed Starbright as she made her leave; ignoring the medics offers to help her.

* * *

Back outside, Shadow was being attacked by small, black copies of Mephiles who stood by the side, smirking at Shadow's helplessness.

"It doesn't matter how many of them you defeat you know" he said. "They'll keep coming till you drown in them."

Suddenly, to his horror, Shadow began to glow red before using Chaos Blast to kill the little monsters, as well as sending Mephiles into a wall of one of the buildings. Shadow stepped forward, about to deal another blow when he realised Mephiles wasn't there.

Before he could say anything, said person came from behind and fired one of his purple orbs at close range into Shadow's back. The black hedgehog was knocked into the dirt as Mephiles stood over him.

"Mephiles!"

Mephiles turned to the voice to see Starbright running towards him.

"I take it you won?" he asked. She nodded. "Good, now let me finish Shadow off and we'll…"

He stopped when they heard the sound of guns loading. Turning, they saw Omega with both his guns aimed at them.

"Damn" Mephiles cursed under his breath. "Fine. I'll take my leave." And with that, Mephiles and Starbright vanished in one of his purple spheres. Omega retracted his guns and stood over Shadow.

"I'd best get him to the medical ward" he said, picking his friend up and carrying him away.

* * *

In the arena, the next fight had already started. Right now, two swords were clashing, their owners moving incredibly fast. They finally jumped back, both breathing heavily. It was Crisis and Cesare.

"You… ready to… give up?" Crisis questioned.

"When hell freezes over!" the crow spat. Crisis made a charge for him but Cesare somehow conjured up a shield made of shadow that knocked Crisis back. The crow then jumped and attempted to drive his sword into the tanuki's shoulder but Crisis blocked and pushed him off.

Flipping back up, Crisis encased his sword in black flames and proceeded to swipe at Cesare but the crow dodged the attacks. The crow then ducked and slashed out at Crisis' stomach. The tanuki cried in pain as blood dripped from it. Cesare then licked the blood off his sword.

"Hm, this is quite nice. Let's see if I can make more spill!"

Cesare began to continuously slash at Crisis but he somehow managed to dodge it. Crisis rolled away from his opponent. He was getting dizzy from the loss of blood. He decided to take a huge risk.

Cesare raised his sword and charged at Crisis, who had sunk to one knee. It looked like he would win but Crisis, with newfound strength, covered his sword in black flames and swung up. Cesare was sent into the air, covered with flames. Crisis then, despite the blood dripping from his gash, jumped after him and slammed his heel into the bird's gut, causing him to cough up blood. Cesare crashed into the ground and fell unconscious. Crisis smiled before crashing himself and was knocked out.

"Since Cesare was the first to crash, Crisis wins!"

The crowd let out a cheer of him which would've put a smile on his face. Even Basil and Kera clapped and whistled.

Wave and Storm had witnessed it as well. Storm was ecstatic.

"Did ya see that?!" he cried in happiness. "He beat the crow! He beat the crow!"

"I get the point, Storm" an irritated Wave said. "Guess he wasn't so bad after all. Come on, we need to tell Jet the good news."

And the two Rogues left, wondering what their boss' reaction would be.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the park, Mephiles was having Starbright tend to the damages he suffered from Shadow.

"That hedgehog is getting tougher by the day" he scowled. "And I probably would've got him if Omega didn't show up!"

"You'll get him next time" Starbright told him.

"Wrong. You'll get him next time" replied Mephiles.

Behind her helmet, Starbright's eyebrows rose. "What?"

"Shadow's becoming suspicious. I need him taken care of and quickly. So, I've got a task for you" explained Mephiles, a smile in his eyes.

"Kill Shadow the Hedgehog!"


	34. Round 3 Part 4

**It's the end of Round 3! R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 34

Last time, Starbright and Crisis beat Ozone and Cesare. Also, Shadow was badly wounded whilst fighting Mephiles and the demon has ordered Starbright to kill him.

* * *

Right now, a sense of excitement was in the air. Only four fighters remained now, meaning only two winners. It wasn't long until the commentator announced the next match.

"Our next fight is Sonic VS Kyira!"

The crowd cheered for the blue hero as he walked on. They were unaware of the cold stare he had on his face. Kyira was feeling confident but at the same time, she was creeped out slightly by Sonic. Ever since last night, he hadn't been acting right. She shrugged it off as they met in the centre. Kyira extended her hand but Sonic didn't take it.

* * *

Silver turned to the others and said "Guys, I think we should wait down there. Something doesn't seem right."

They nodded and soon, a group of them were waiting where the fighters for the next match would be. The group was made up of Silver, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Rouge, Cosmo, Strike, Aqua, Axel, Sally, Aleena and Gale.

* * *

Meanwhile, the fight had already kicked off. Sonic spun at the fox demon but she flipped over it. Sonic uncurled and shot his foot out but Kyira blocked it with her arm. Gritting his teeth, Sonic flipped back and charged at Kyira, throwing his fist at her. But as before, Kyira dodged it, landing her own blow on Sonic, knocking him back.

Sonic jumped back up and performed his Homing Attack on her. He got her in the face and she reeled back, giving Sonic the opportunity to kick her in the gut. Kyira winced slightly but stood back up. Jumping, she swung round with her tails, knocking Sonic to the side.

Flipping back up, Sonic began to run round Kyira, creating a tornado that lifted her into the air. As she was suspended, Sonic zipped past her, striking her each time he did. Sonic landed with grace whilst Kyira slammed into the ground.

Sonic turned round with a smirk on his face but was taken aback when Kyira stood up with a red aura round her. She let out an inhuman growl as she crouched down on all fours.

"Uh oh" he muttered as Kyira pounced. Sonic ducked and rolled under her, shooting upwards with his feet, knocking Kyira into the air. As she came down, Sonic extended his quills and jabbed her with them. He let her fall to the ground and then jumped and spun downward into her gut.

He flipped back up, only to be kicked across the face by Kyira. As he recoiled, Kyira used this as an opportunity to dash past him and whack him with her tails. She skidded to a stop, turned, and then rammed into him. He slid across the floor before crashing into the wall.

The red aura around Kyira vanished as she calmed down. "Guess I over did it" she said to herself. It wasn't long until the crowd began to boo at her. She sighed; unaware of what was happening with Sonic.

* * *

Sonic woke up in a black void. There was nothing there but blackness. "What happened?" he asked himself.

"You lost!"

Sonic jumped at the sound of the voice. But there wasn't anyone there. "What do you mean?"

"You let the demon freak beat you! Don't you want revenge?" the voice asked.

"Revenge for what?" the blue hero asked.

The voice began to speak softer, as if he wanted Sonic to listen. "They lied to you. Your own family is nothing more than a lie. Doesn't that make you angry?"

Sonic gritted his teeth and his fists began to shake. "Yes. It makes me very angry!" he growled.

"Then take action" the voice said. "Unleash your anger and take it out on those you wronged you. Feel it, consume it, BE IT!!!"

* * *

The scene shifts back to the arena and the commentator was just finishing off.

"Well, it looks like the winner is… What the hell is that?!"

Kyira turned to see a black smoke merge from Sonic's body. Suddenly, he got up and raised his open hand to the air. A black veil began to cover the arena, blocking the audience's view.

Elise began to tremble as she saw it. "It can't be. Not him again."

* * *

Meanwhile, Sally noticed what was going on. "What's that?"

The others turned and saw what she meant. They knew what was happening.

"Gus, move!" cried Silver, jumping out into the arena. Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Strike, Axel and Gale managed to follow him before the veil blocked out the entrance.

* * *

Kyira stood there, a look of horror on her face as Sonic faced her. His eyes were completely blank now and his fur was pure black.

"Sonic?" she asked nervously.

Sonic merely grinned, before firing a black Chaos Spear at her. It was about to hit when Gale shoved her out of the way.

"Gale!" she cried in alarm.

The two quickly got up as they saw Sonic. Silver and the others jumped in front of them.

"Sonic, are you feeling OK?" Axel asked, walking towards him till Knuckles dragged him back.

"He's not Sonic anymore" he growled. "He's the most evil thing ever in existence. Dark Sonic!"

"Well, soon he'll be unconscious!" Strike cried, jumping at the evil hog. Dark Sonic merely smirked before grabbing Strike by the neck and electrocuting him. Strike wailed in pain before Dark Sonic threw him into the wall. He then turned to the others.

"Who's next?"

Axel rushed at Dark, until he realised that his sword was still broken from the fight with Marisa. By the time he noticed, Dark had already spun into him, sending him to the other side of the arena.

Knuckles threw a punch at Dark but he grabbed it and sent Knuckles back with a pulsating blast of darkness. Growling, Knuckles began to dig underground. Dark raised an eyebrow.

"Pathetic" he said, before curling into a ball and aiming straight down so that he was digging as well. There was an awkward silence until Knuckles was thrown out of the ground. Dark followed after him, ramming into his back before jumping over him and bringing his fists together to smash the echidna down.

Dark landed with a grin until he noticed Silver. "Care to try?" he asked.

Silver's hand began to glow green. "I'd love too." The white hedgehog then hovered slightly above the ground before charging. Dark did the same so that when they collided; their heads were together, trying to push away the other.

"You... will not… hurt anyone!" Silver cried.

Dark laughed. "Try and stop me." He then flipped back and threw a bunch of Chaos Spears down that exploded around Silver. The dust covered Silver's vision, so he couldn't protect himself from the blast of black lightning that Sonic threw at him.

Tails and Amy jumped in front of Dark. "Sonic, snap out of it!" Tails cried.

"Please, Sonic. This isn't you!" Amy pleaded.

Dark didn't answer. Instead, he charged forward and punched Tails across the face. The two tailed fox was knocked back and couldn't defend himself from Dark's lightning blast.

"Tails!" Amy screamed.

Tails winced from what was to come but Kyira jumped in front of the blast and took the hit.

"Mum!" Tails cried, kneeling by her. Kyira said nothing, her eyes firmly closed. Enraged, a red aura began to surround Tails. Dark's eyes widened.

"What is this?" he gasped as Tails emitted a feral growl and leapt at Dark. The evil hedgehog swatted him away with a flick of his wrist, knocking him into the wall.

Amy, unable to take anymore of this, jumped on Dark. "Get-out-of-my-boyfriend's-body!" she yelled, bashing him with her hammer.

Dark seemed unfazed and grabbed her wrist and threw her off. "Weakling. I think it's time to end your miserable life!"

He opened his hand towards Amy and began to charge up a blue orb. He was about to fire when Gale stepped in front of him.

"Sonic. What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"What's wrong with me?" Dark asked. "I've found out my own family was a lie!" he screamed. "I hate you so much. Ever since last night, I've wanted so badly to kill you and now, I have the chance!"

"Sonic, as your father, I order you to stop it!" Gale yelled.

"YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!!!" Dark screamed, the orb in his hand getting bigger.

Gale sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry for abandoning you. But I had good reasons. I'm one of the most wanted criminals in the world. Coming here was a risk. When we had you, I realised that if anyone knew you were the son of Captain Gale the Hedgehog… I don't know what would've happened. Not just you but your mum as well" he explained. "That's why I left. To protect you."

Dark seemed slightly hesitant. Then, Gale dropped to his knees. "If you want to kill me, then kill me."

Dark smiled. "I'm gonna enjoy this!" He aimed the orb at Gale's head and prepared to fire. But he didn't. Dark seemed to be having a mental fight with himself.

"I… I… I can't!"

Suddenly, the veil dropped and Sonic's fur turned back to cobalt and his eyes came back. The audience sat there in silence at what they were seeing in front of them.

"Uh, I'm not sure what happened but it looks like Sonic wins!" the commentator announced, prompting the crowd to cheer.

Medics came for the others and Sonic and Gale quickly left in time for the commentator to introduce the next fight.

"Our final fight of Round 3 is Armand VS Marisa!"

The tiger and human entered the arena and shook each other's hand before they took up fighting positions.

"I've seen your magic" said Armand. "It's impressive but can it stand up to the greatest technological feat of all time?"

"I don't know. Let's find out!" challenged Marisa.

Armand formed his laser sword and charged at the young mage. Marisa jumped over Armand's swing and fired an ice spell but the tiger dodged it. He began to slash repeatedly at her but Marisa was able to dodge every single one. Then, Marisa fired a thunder spell that sent Armand flying back.

As he got up, Marisa charged up a fire spell and sent a fireball in his direction. He barely managed to dodge it but the explosion it made knocked him over. He jumped back up in time to see Marisa charging up another spell whilst running at him. Quickly thinking, he activated his Acro Laser and begun to teleport and shoot a laser at Marisa.

When he finished, Marisa was worn down, covered with bruises. Smirking, Armand once more formed his laser sword and charged. Marisa twisted to the side to avoid it but the sword chopped off a bit of her hair. Armand whipped round and fired a quick laser at her which knocked her back. She got back up in time to dodge another swipe from the young tiger.

She fired another thunder spell and ended up hitting Armand's wrist. A flash of sparks caused the tiger to panic.

"Argh! The watch! You short circuited it!" he wailed. In his moment of panic, Marisa whipped up a wind spell and got Armand sucked up into a tornado. The tiger was spun around and around until it died down, dropping him onto the floor. He tried to get up but failed.

"Marisa wins!"

The crowd cheered for the mage as she helped Armand up. "Sorry about your watch" she said.

Armand sighed. "It's alright. I'm sure I can get it fixed. You didn't do a lot of damage to it."

The two shook hands before leaving, as did the audience.

"Don't forget folks" the commentator said. "Same time tomorrow for Round 4!"


	35. The Plot Thickens

**Halle-fricking-julah! R&R! Also, from this point on, at least one OC from each author will play some role in this**

**Sonic and co owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 35

Last time, Sonic turned into Dark Sonic in his fight against Kyira but Gale managed to snap him out of it. Also, Armand lost to Marisa, ending Round 3. Most of the audience had left to enjoy the park but a few stayed behind.

* * *

In the medical wing, Sonic, Tails and Gale's crew were visiting Kyira, who was lying in one of the beds. Tails shoved Sonic forward, the hedgehog already knowing what he had to say.

"Kyira, I'm sorry for what happened. I shouldn't have gone out of control" he apologised.

Kyira nodded, wincing slightly. "It's OK. I don't blame you" she replied.

"I'm just glad Gale managed to talk him out of it" said Tails.

Wrist and Thorn nodded in agreement whilst Gale turned to Sonic. "Well done for apologising."

"Your welcome dad" the hedgehog replied before realising what he said. Gale raised an eyebrow whilst Tails chuckled.

"You'd better get used to it Sonic" he said.

Elsewhere, Silver was seeing to Blaze. She was still badly injured from her fight with Chrono and the psychic hedgehog was fretting over her.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything? Anything at all? Are you sure? Are you positive?" he asked frantically, causing Blaze to roll her eyes.

"I've told you Silver, I'm fine. All I need is for some rest and I can't really get that with you raving like that" she told him.

Silver frowned slightly, passing his gaze over Metal Havoc, who was wired up to a machine, awaiting repairs. Blaze noticed this and remembered something.

"Oh, Silver! I saw Metal Sonic leaving a while ago, so you'd best tell the others" she explained. Silver promised he would before giving her a goodbye kiss.

* * *

The scene shifts to outside the medical wing. Sonic, Tails, Silver and Gale's crew met up with the Sonic Heroes. Amy pulled Sonic into one of her bone crushing hugs.

"Oh Sonic! I'm so glad you're back to normal!" she squealed with delight whilst Sonic gagged for air. Gale chuckled slightly before turning to Aleena.

"Say Aleena," he began to say. "I know we haven't seen each other for 15 years but… I was wondering if tonight you'd… like to go out?"

Aleena had a frown on her face, crushing Gale's hopes but it was quickly replaced with a smile when she said "How can I refuse?"

The two shared a hug before Gale moved his attention towards Axel and Sally.

"I hope you two don't mind" he said.

Sally shook her head. "Nope. You two are still legally married so you're entitled to."

Gale was slightly surprised by her comment but nodded in reply. Axel simply stood there and nodded silently. Strike meanwhile was glaring at Gale before Aqua shook him out of it.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

"Yeah. I've just… gotta go somewhere" he said before taking off. Aqua began to worry about her boyfriend. Ever since last night, he had been acting weird. Was it the fact that he wasn't related to Sonic? Her thoughts were interrupted when she was dragged into a conversation with the others.

* * *

Elsewhere, Havoc and Zero had been trying to find something that looked suspicious or out of place around the park but were unsuccessful. They had returned to the hotel but before they entered Havoc's room, they saw Chrono leaning beside the wall. He had a bandage going across the waist, no doubt from the fight with Blaze.

"What do you want, tanuki?" Zero asked, rudely.

Chrono stared at them with a look of interest. "I've noticed you scouting the park. I'm guessing that you're trying to find out who's behind all this."

Havoc nodded. "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to help" the tanuki replied. "That's why I lost. So I could search the area."

Zero raised an eyebrow. "You lost on purpose?"

Havoc stepped in and asked "So, are you proposing an alliance?"

"I am indeed" Chrono replied before opening the door to his room. "We'll discuss our findings here."

"Why should we go in your room?" Zero asked, folding his arms.

Chrono smirked, "Because the surveillance camera in my room doesn't work."

With widened eyes, Havoc and Zero entered the room and found a broken camera jutting outside the wall, with the metal plate covering it on the floor.

* * *

In another part of the park, Crisis was sitting on a bench with his eyes shut, enjoying the peace when he was rudely interrupted.

"HEY!" a voice squawked. Crisis opened his eyes, slightly annoyed. The voice belonged to Jet, who was with Wave and Storm.

"I understand you're the one who beat that sick crow, Cesare" the hawk said.

Crisis stood up. "Yeah, why?"

Jet said nothing, simply extending his hand and saying "Thanks a lot. I owe you big time."

Crisis was slightly taken aback before returning the smile and shaking Jet's hand.

* * *

The scene shifts to later that night. Everyone had returned to the hotel to rest up, except for Gale and Aleena who went out for dinner. They both managed to 'borrow' some normal clothes to keep a low profile. All in all, it was relatively peaceful. Except for one thing.

Starbright emerged from the shadows, gun in hand. She replayed what she was told in her head.

_Flashback_

"Shadow's becoming suspicious. I need him taken care of and quickly. So, I've got a task for you" explained Mephiles, a smile in his eyes.

"Kill Shadow the Hedgehog!"

_End Flashback_

Even though you couldn't tell, she had a look of doubt on her face. Did she want to do this? To Shadow? She shook her head made her way to the arena. It was locked up and she didn't want to make it look like somebody had broken in. Mephiles told Starbright to make it look like Shadow had died of his injuries so she had to make sure she didn't do anything to arouse suspicion.

Pressing a few buttons on the side of her weapon, it turned into a slingshot, allowing Starbright to enter the arena. She landed in the top row of seats and made her way down. As she got further down, she began to think about her mission. Sighing, she removed her helmet. It was too dark to see her face but her blonde hair stood out slightly.

"Can I really do this?" she said to herself. "I know I promised Mephiles by obedience but… Shadow." The more she began to think about, the more she became confused. She eventually collapsed to her knees and sobbed.

Outside, two figures were walking past the arena. They were Dusk and Amelia. During the tournament, they had struck up a friendship and had been hanging out every night. As they were walking past, they heard Starbright's sobs and became curious.

"What's that?" asked Amelia.

"I don't know" replied Dusk, "But it seems to be coming from the arena."

Curious, Dusk used her shadow tentacle as a platform for Amelia. The wolf flipped over the edge whilst Dusk prepared to do the same. However, Amelia had already seen Starbright.

"HEY!" she called out, prompting Starbright to stuff her helmet back on. "You're that Starbright person."

"Who wants to know?" the masked person questioned, her aggressiveness coming back.

Amelia pulled her bow out, ready for a fight. "Why are you here?"

"That has nothing to do with you! Now leave before I make you!"

The wolf wasn't budging, pulling an arrow out and firing at her masked opponent. But Starbright easily dodged it, running up to Amelia and kicking her up the steps. Amelia made a jump for Starbright, causing both of them to tumble down the steps. Starbright managed to kick the wolf off and she landed in the arena. Starbright jumped after her and pulled out her gun.

"I told you not to interfere" she said, her finger on the trigger. But before she could do anything, a shadow grabbed her from behind and threw her into the wall. Amelia looked up in surprise as Dusk appeared and helped her up.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

The wolf nodded. "I'm fine but that girl is fast. She can dodge my arrows with ease."

"Well, she hasn't met me yet!" Dusk remarked, a smirk on her face.

Starbright got back up and pulled her gun out and fired at Dusk. Using her skates, the shadowy hedgehog was able to weave between the blasts before lunging out with one of her shadow tentacles to slam Starbright back into the wall.

"You may be faster but I'm stronger!" Starbright growled, jumping for Dusk and punching her round the face. Dusk stumbled but retaliated by launching her foot out at Starbright. But the armour-clad warrior easily dodged it before grabbing Dusk's ankle and swinging her behind her. Dusk landed face first into the dirt. She pushed herself up, spitting the dirt out of her mouth.

"I SO need a shower" she said to herself. As she spoke, Starbright pressed her foot on Dusk's back.

"Any last words?" she sneered, raising her fist as it glowed blue.

Dusk didn't reply since an arrow came out of nowhere and froze Starbright's arm. She turned to see Amelia with her bow aimed at her.

"Don't tell me you forgot about me?" she asked. In the assailant's moment of distraction, Dusk pushed her off and summoned a boxing glove-shaped shadow from Starbright's shadow which uppercutted her, knocking her back. Starbright pulled the arrow out of her frozen arm, wincing slightly and, somehow, managed to coat her entire arm blue, causing the ice to shatter. She flipped back up, her arm still glowing, and rushed at speeds that would impress Sonic towards Dusk, slamming her aura covered palm into the hedgehog's gut. Screaming in pain, Dusk was sent flying into the wall with a bang.

Amelia gasped and tried to help her friend but Starbright stood in the way. The wolf snarled.

"You witch! I'll make you pay for that!" she cried, swinging her bow in an attempt of hitting her but Starbright grabbed it and threw it away before sending her fist across Amelia's face. The wolf fell to the floor as Starbright loomed over her, a blue aura appearing in the palm of her hand.

"It ends now!" she cried.

"Not while I'm here!"

Starbright turned to the voice and was met with a foot to the face, knocking her back. Amelia was then helped up by none other than Ozone.

"You go look after your friend. That she-devil is mine" he told her.

Amelia didn't hesitate and rushed to Dusk's side whilst Starbright got back to her feet.

"You again! You're certainly interfering!" she growled after recognizing her attacker.

"Well, this time, I don't intend to lose" Ozone challenged, firing a Chaos Spear at her which she jumped over. She landed in front of Ozone and threw a punch but the yellow hedgehog easily dodged it, retaliating with an elbow to the gut. Clutching her stomach, Starbright pulled her gun out and fired it. Ozone was hit dead on and the blue blast of energy sent him sliding across the ground.

"Hah. No medics to help you now!" Starbright sneered, but to her surprise, Ozone got back up, with a smirk on his face.

"You must've forgotten to leave the germanium in" he stated. Starbright's eyes widened when she realised he was right. She had taken the germanium out. She then noticed Ozone was gone. Her eyes darted about looking for him. Suddenly, a lightning arrow hit her in the back. As she cried in pain, her suit began to short out. She pulled the arrow out and was horrified to realise her suit would no longer make her Chaos energy. She turned to see that Amelia was responsible and was about to attack when a shadow smacked her across the face. Ozone had used his herbs to heal Dusk.

The three heroes surrounded her as she tried summoning the energy but it was all in vain.

"I think it'd be best if you gave up" stated Ozone.

Starbright snarled before flipping over Amelia and running up the steps again. The wolf tried firing arrows but Starbright dodged them all.

"Don't worry. I've got her!" cried Dusk, sending out another shadow tentacle. But when the tentacle was in grabbing distance, it became taut and wouldn't go any further.

"Oh damn!" Dusk cursed. "It won't go any further!" she explained as Starbright flipped over the edge of the arena.

"How did you find us?" Amelia asked the heroic hedgehog.

Ozone said "I heard the scuffling and teleported in to see what was going on. Why was that girl here?"

Both females shrugged. Ozone began to think. "Hm, there's nothing here of value. The only thing here is the medical ward."

"Could she have been targeting one of the patients?" Amelia suggested.

Dusk pondered this. "The only ones in there, from what I know, are that robot, Blaze and…" she began but then it dawned on her. "Shadow!"

Suddenly, they heard people running to the entrance. "We'd better discuss this in the morning" suggested Ozone, teleporting himself and the girls out of the arena and back to the hotel.


	36. Round 4 Part 1

**UPDATE!!! R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 36

Last time, Round 3 ended and the fighters began to make new alliances with one another. Also, Starbright got second thoughts about killing Shadow, resulting in her being stopped by Dusk, Amelia and Ozone.

* * *

It was the next morning and everyone was making their way to the arena. Sonic was certainly in higher spirits than before and had even begun to accept Gale. Axel and Sally had done the same but Strike still remained distant.

"What's wrong with him?" Amy asked Aqua.

The watery hedgehog shook her head. "I have no idea. He's been like that for two days."

"What? Since we found out Gale was Sonic's dad?" Amy pondered. "Must be a family issue."

It wasn't long until everyone was in the arena. The woman who handed out the leaflets wasn't there and they got them from a young man with fair hair but no one paid much attention. Sonic glanced at his. Only eight of them were left. He then noticed that he was in the second fight against number 37.

"I'd better get going" he said to the others.

"Good luck, Sonic" said Gale.

Sonic gave his traditional smirk. "I know who's left so I'll know how to fight. You worry too much, dad."

Normally Gale would've been annoyed but he couldn't help but smile at the sound of being called 'dad'. His smile grew when he saw Amy trying to give Sonic a good luck hug. However, this was interrupted when Shadow arrived, his wounds healed.

"Hey, Shad. How are ya feeling?" Sonic asked.

"Better. And don't call me Shad" Sonic's look-a-like replied. As Sonic took off, Shadow saw Dusk approach. She looked worried.

"Dusk, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I thought I should tell you. Last night, that Starbright girl snuck into the arena. Some friends and I managed to send her packing but we think she was after you" the umber hedgehog explained.

Shadow stiffened slightly. Mephiles really wanted him out of the way. "OK, thanks Dusk."

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the arena, Starbright was standing in the shadows. She was fidgeting slightly. That's when Mephiles appeared.

"OK, Starbright. We're halfway there. Three more obstacles and this will be ours" he declared, clenching his fist dramatically.

Starbright nodded quickly. "Sure, no problem."

"Good," Mephiles replied. "We don't want you having _another _fit of conscience like last night!" He growled slightly as he said it.

Starbright nodded again and behind her helmet, her eyes were filled with fear and sadness.

* * *

Back in the arena, the commentator had just finished introducing the next round.

"Our first fight is Crisis VS Blaze!"

Silver nearly fell out of his seat when he saw Blaze walking in opposite Crisis.

"What the heck? Blaze was nearly beaten to a pulp by Chrono, and she's fighting already?" he gasped.

"Calm down, Silver" said Amy. "Blaze is a tough fighter. I'm sure she will do fine."

Back in the arena, Crisis had a smirk on his face. "This should be interesting" he said, as black flames licked around his wrists.

Blaze was smirking as well, and summoned two fireballs in her hands. "I've always wanted to fight fire with fire."

Quick as a flash, Blaze threw both fireballs forward but Crisis easily rolled out of the way. He drew his sword and charged at the lavender cat. He swung but Blaze dropped to the ground and tripped him over. She jumped and tried to dive on him but he shot his legs up, kicking her away.

He then flipped back up and surrounded his wrists with black flames before swiping at Blaze. She effortlessly dodged every attack before flinging another fireball at Crisis but the tanuki blocked it with his sword.

"Heh. It looks like we're in a bit of a stalemate" Crisis stated.

"Indeed" Blaze agreed. "But it won't last!"

The cat began to spin, creating a fiery tornado around her before shooting out at Crisis. Raising an eyebrow, the tanuki flipped away but the tornado followed. Crisis knew he couldn't attack Blaze whilst she was in that state so he had no option but to run.

The tornado followed him everywhere he went. It looked liked it wouldn't stop until Blaze emerged from it. Crisis saw this opportunity, turned and jabbed his sword forward. But Blaze jumped and landed on it.

"What's the matter, Crisis? I thought you were good with a sword" she mocked before running down it and kicking Crisis across the face. He stumbled back, holding his face while Blaze ran forward and punched him in the gut. He fell to the floor but quickly got back up, snarling.

"Alright, kitty cat! No more games!" he growled.

Suddenly, black flames surrounded Crisis' wrists again and he charged. Blaze got ready to counter but Crisis jumped over her and attacked from behind. Blaze was badly hurt by the flames but Crisis followed up with a jab using the hilt of his sword. Blaze tried to get back up but Crisis slammed the hilt on her again. Blaze could've sworn she heard a few bones crack.

"Give up?" Crisis snarled.

"I've never given up and I'm not gonna start now!" she retorted.

"Then maybe you need to learn when you've lost!"

"Or you need to learn to realise when you're being distracted?"

Before he knew it, Blaze threw a fireball into the tanuki's stomach. Crisis was knocked back, losing his hold on Blaze. She jumped back up and swung her leg round Crisis' face, before jabbing her elbow into his gut. He fell back and before he could retaliate, Blaze had grabbed his sword and was holding it to his face.

"Give up?" she asked, smirking.

Crisis' snarl subsided and nodded. "Good work. I never should've underestimated you."

As Blaze helped him up, the commentator's voice blared. "Crisis has conceded defeat, making Blaze the winner!"

While Crisis left, Blaze was taken back to the medical wing, with Silver accompanying her.

"Hospitalized twice in two days. That's a feat in its own" the white hedgehog stated.

Blaze rolled her eyes. "It's not as bad as last time. So, I shouldn't be gone for long." She gave Silver a quick kiss on the cheek before they parted.

* * *

Back with Crisis, he was leaving the arena to get some rest at the hotel when someone called to him from the shadows.

"Psst. You, Crisis or whatever your name is."

Startled, Crisis approached and saw the owner f the voice. It was Zero, and Havoc and Chrono were with him. Next to them was a strange bundle but Crisis didn't pay it much attention.

"We take it you lost?" Zero asked.

"Why do you care?" Crisis responded, his hand on his sword hilt.

Havoc held up his hands. "We're not here to start a fight. We have a proposition for you." He tilted his head to Chrono who stepped forward.

"We think there's more to this tournament than meets the eye" he explained. "For starters, have you ever heard of the Emerald Sky Park?"

"Um, no?" Crisis answered, more confused.

"My point exactly. This place just popped out of nowhere. And whoever's behind it has all the Chaos Emeralds. A tad suspicious don't you think?" Chrono asked.

Crisis began to think. This other tanuki had a point. "OK, I'm with you. But why would someone who has all the emeralds want to attract a bunch of fighters here?"

"A test?" Havoc suggested, pulling the bundle up to reveal an unconscious human. Crisis recognized her as the woman who normally handed the leaflets out. Crisis jumped slightly.

"Is she unconscious?" he asked.

Havoc shook his head. "Only broken" he said, taking the face off to reveal a robot, with two video cameras for eyes.

* * *

While all this was going on, the commentator had announced the next fight.

"Our next fight is Sonic VS…" he began but Sonic had already run out, circling the arena whilst waving to the crowd. Lots of cheers followed, especially since he beat Kyira.

"Ahem, as I was saying" the commentator said. "It's Sonic VS Larcen!"

Sonic stopped and his eyes widened as he turned to see Larcen strolling in. Sonic hadn't forgotten how he acted when they first met and didn't want to get on the wrong side of him. He met up with Larcen in the centre of the arena.

"Uh, best of luck?" he said but Larcen gave him a cold look.

"You're the one who'll need the best of luck, blue boy" he threatened.

Then, without warning, Larcen launched his fist at Sonic. But Sonic swayed his head to the side to dodge it before kicking out. His foot connected with Larcen's stomach, knocking him back. The dark blue hedgehog landed on his back but quickly got back up. Sonic had taken up a fighting stance. It seemed like he had decided to stop playing around.

Larcen gritted his teeth and pulled out his dagger. The necklace round his neck began to glow and Larcen suddenly rushed forward at high speeds. But Sonic knew about the necklace and jumped over the speeding hedgehog. Larcen managed to skid to a stop and spin round, intent on punching Sonic but he blocked with his wrist and threw his own punch. He nailed Larcen across the face. Larcen grasped his mouth in pain, collapsing to one knee.

Sonic looked slightly worried. "Hey, are you OK?" he asked.

He then noticed Larcen grinning slightly. Before he knew it, Larcen had spun round with his leg, knocking Sonic off his feet. Before he hit the ground, Larcen's necklace began to glow again and his speed went up again. He rapidly punched the mid-air Sonic, not giving him the chance to hit the ground before slamming his palm out. The force sent Sonic sprawling across the arena floor. He pushed himself back up, determination in his eyes.

"Oh, you've asked for it now!"

Sonic began to spin but Larcen already caught on and, using his new found speed, rushed forward and booted Sonic up into the air. Sonic managed to uncurl as he flew up and aimed downward to descend faster. He landed and suddenly dashed forward, landing a well placed kick in Larcen's stomach. The dark blue hedgehog was knocked back and couldn't block Sonic's following punch.

"Ugh, you're tough. I'll give you that" Larcen complimented. "But I'm still gonna kick your blue butt all over this arena."

"You're blue too, ya know" Sonic responded. Larcen sweat-dropped slightly at the bad comeback and launched forward, dagger outstretched. Sonic managed to grab his wrist. Larcen tried throwing a punch with his other fist but Sonic grabbed it. It was now a struggle to see who could attack first. Both hedgehogs were gritting their teeth, determined not to lose. Suddenly, as quick as a flash, Larcen's dagger was knocked out of his hand. He tried to get it but Sonic punched him across the face. Larcen twisted round and prepared to make his necklace glow again. But it didn't. With a look of horror, he saw Sonic holding it.

"Looking for this?" he mocked.

Enraged, Larcen jumped for his adversary but Sonic easily dodged it before swinging his leg round, connecting with the back of Larcen's head. Sonic then picked up Larcen's dagger.

"You're only means of attack are gone, pal" he pointed out. "Sorry, but I think I've won."

Larcen growled before looking down in defeat. Sonic went up to him as the commentator began to speak.

"Larcen is unable to battle, making Sonic the winner!"

The crowd burst into applaud but somehow, Marisa's cries of disappointment could be heard. As Sonic gave back Larcen's things he said "No hard feelings?"

Larcen didn't respond. Instead, he took back the dagger and necklace, put said necklace round his neck, and punched Sonic round the face before leaving. Sonic rubbed his chin whilst looking quite shocked.

"What was that about?" he asked himself. As he walked back, he noticed Marisa coming towards him.

"I saw what happened. Sorry about that. That necklace was given to him by his deceased mother" she explained.

"Oh, I see" Sonic said. "I'll apologise to him when I see him."

Marisa nodded before taking off. Apparently, she must be fighting in the final match. Sonic took his seat and looked out to see who would fight next.

"Our next fight is…"


	37. Round 4 Part 2

**I would've made it longer but this had a more suitable cliffhanger. Read and review!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 37

Last time, Sonic and Blaze defeated Larcen and Crisis respectively but Sonic seemed to have angered his opponent after taking his necklace. Also, Crisis joined Chrono, Havoc and Zero when he realised that one of the workers was in fact a robot. But right now, everybody's attention was on the final two fights.

* * *

Our next match is Emily VS Shade!" the commentator blurted out. The two females walked into the arena whilst the crowd cheered. They shook hands before taking a few steps back.

"You'd better be prepared, girlfriend" Emily advised as her claw became surrounded by the familiar blue aura.

Shade smirked slightly as she pulled her Leech Blade out. "I was trained by the Nocturnus. If anyone needs to be prepared, it's you."

The two girls immediately charged, slamming into each other and forced back. Emily then dashed forward but Shade effortlessly flipped over. To her surprise, Emily swung round with her foot and it connected with Shade's back. The echidna was knocked forward but she easily flipped back up before Emily smashed her paw into the ground.

"You're good" commented Shade, "But let's see you counter this!"

As quick as a flash, Shade pressed a button on her belt and vanished, re-appearing right in front of Emily and sucker punching her round the face. The cheetah rubbed her jaw and turned to attack but Shade beat her to the punch… literally. Emily was getting quite dizzy and tried to fight back but Shade flexed her body to avoid her attacks before countering with her own. Emily was eventually backed into a wall and it looked like Shade had won.

"I'm afraid this is where your tournament journey ends!" she said, drawing her Leech Blade. However, to her surprise, Emily rolled out of the way to avoid the attack. Now, Shade's weapon was stuck in the wall. She tried to pry it out and she did, after Emily grabbed her from behind and fell back, causing Shade to land on the ground head-first.

"What was that about my tournament journey ending?" the cheetah mocked as she got up.

Shade felt slightly humiliated but she learnt that one mustn't let their emotions out of control. Tactfully, she drew a smoke bomb and threw it to the ground, blocking Emily's sight. She was unprepared for the sudden uppercut that Shade gave her. The echidna then teleported above her and slammed her heel into the cheetah's gut, sending her plummeting into the ground.

* * *

Armand, who was watching all this, gasped in shock and would've jumped in to help her if Basil and Alan hadn't held him back.

"Calm down, pal. She has to do this on her own" Basil told him.

"But that echidna… she's beating her to a pulp! I've got to help her!" Armand retorted.

Alan said "Listen, Armand. I know you care for her but Emily doesn't want help if she doesn't ask for it. Let her do this alone. You never know, she might pull through."

* * *

Armand took in these words and nodded. Emily could still win this. But by the looks of things, this seemed unlikely.

Emily had just pulled herself out of the slight hole she made as Shade landed in front of her.

"I think it would be wise to surrender now" the echidna suggested.

"Hah! I never give in!" Emily declared as she stood up.

Shade drew her Leech Blade, intent on ending it for good when Armand yelled "Come on, Emily! Show her what you're made of!"

Emily heard this and suddenly, the blue gem in her navel began to glow. Shade's eyes widened as she saw this.

"What in the…?" she started to say but was cut short when both of Emily's paws began to slow and she slammed them both forward. The added power sent Shade flying across the arena and sliding across the ground until she collided with the wall, knocking her unconscious.

"Shade can no longer fight, making Emily the winner!"

The crowd applauded the young cheetah, who panted heavily from the fight. She saw Alan punching the air in delight whilst Armand winked at her, prompting her to wink back. She and Shade were taken to the medical ward. Knuckles felt some concern for his fellow echidna and took off.

"Hey, where's Knucklehead going?" Sonic asked.

"Probably to check on Shade" suggested Silver. "Those two seem to be getting closer."

"I think we have less trivial things to worry about" Shadow told them moodily.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked but the answer was already there.

"Our final match of Round 4 is Starbright VS Marisa!"

There was an odd silence as the mage and assailant approached each other. Marisa had a worried look on her face. Sonic looked over and noticed that Larcen had the same look.

As they neared the centre, Starbright said "Listen, I don't want to hurt you. Give in now!"

"No way!" Marisa replied, defiantly. "I've come so far now! I'm not letting you gonna stop me from what I want!"

What she wants, thought Sonic.

"Fine" Starbright sighed before suddenly kneeing Marisa in the gut and then punching her across the face. The young girl began to cough up blood but she wiped it away, swiftly turning to fire a lightning spell. Starbright didn't want a repeat of the night before and leaned back so it trailed over her.

When she righted herself, Marisa was there to throw a punch but the masked girl caught her fist before throwing her own. Marisa staggered but clearly wasn't ready to give in. She formed an orb of darkness and sent it in Starbright's direction. Unfortunately, Starbright jumped over it, letting it crash into the wall, before grabbing Marisa by the collar and throwing her towards the nearby wall. Everybody in the audience felt the impact.

Sonic's eyes darted over to Larcen, whose fists were clenched and he was mouthing something. It looked like "Come on. Don't give up!" but Sonic was never a good lip-reader.

Back in the arena, Marisa had tried using a fire spell but Starbright was firing her Chaos energy out from her palms to neutralise the fireballs before they got near her.

"Seriously, you have no chance in winning. Just go home!" Starbright cried. It almost sounded like she was pleading.

Marisa, who was gasping for breath, replied "I'm… not leaving… without her."

Sonic's eyebrows rose. Her?

Marisa then threw out her hands and a bright light cast out, blinding everyone. However, Starbright was wearing a helmet and it was built so her eyesight couldn't be ruined by smokescreen or bright lights. So she saw Marisa already coming towards her. She thrust out her palm which emitted a blast of Chaos energy, which ploughed into Marisa's stomach.

By now, Marisa could barely stand but she was still ready to keep on fighting. She managed to stand straight and green energy began to circle her wrists as she charged up a wind spell. Starbright guessed this and began to charge up her own energy. It looked like a final showdown but people were already placing bets on Starbright. Sonic was beginning to get worried for Marisa's safety, even though he hardly knew her.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an unknown area, a shadowed figure was watching the fight on a giant screen.

"Argh! That masked girl's going to win!" it said. "I can't let that happen!"

The figure then pressed a button on the keyboard in front of it.

* * *

Back in the arena, unknown to everyone, a miniature robot mosquito came out of a hidden hole in one of the walls. It flew silently towards Starbright and stung her in the leg.

"Ah! What the…?!" she winced, inadvertently smashing the robot as she swiped where it stung but it had already done its job. In her moment of distraction, her Chaos energy dismissed, leaving her wide open to Marisa's attack. With a might cry, the mage flung her hands forward and a huge gust of wind caught Starbright flipping her up into the air. She screamed as she was swept up and began to spin rapidly in the air as if a tornado had caught her. She eventually crashed into the ground.

Everyone hesitated, not knowing what had happened. The silence was broken when a clunk was heard. Everyone turned to see Sonic rubbing his head.

"Ow, why me?" he asked before taking a closer look at what hit him. He got the shock of his life as he realised that he was holding Starbright's helmet! As if on cue, everyone turned to the now unmasked figure and gasped as they saw her.

She was a hedgehog, no older than 14, with yellow fur and huge blue eyes. The one thing everyone recognized was her flowing blonde hair. She stared in horror at the crowd until she noticed Shadow gaping at her. She let out a small cry before getting up and leaving the arena.

"Starbright has left the arena, making Marisa the winner!"

Uproar was heard. Even though it was a fluke victory, Marisa had managed to survive it all. She smiled before fainting and taken to the medical ward with Larcen following her. Sonic would've gone too but he noticed Shadow already making his way out.

"Come on, team!" he said to the others. "Time to find out who this Starbright girl really is!"


	38. Secrets

**Hooray! Update! Read and review. Also, no flames**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 38

Last time, Emily triumphed over Shade whilst Marisa fought Starbright. At first, it seemed the masked warrior would win but an unknown figure helped and Marisa knocked off Starbright's helmet. With her identity revealed, she fled, with Shadow and the others in hot pursuit.

* * *

Starbright, now without her helmet, ran as fast as she could. She felt tired and worn out but she couldn't stop no matter what. She managed to find solitude in the amusement park (it wasn't called the Emerald Sky Park for nothing). She hid in the shadows under the Ferris wheel.

"Phew. Nobody should find me here" she said to herself.

"How wrong you are."

She gasped as she turned to see Mephiles. He looked really pissed off. "H-hi, Mephiles."

"Why are you not in the arena?" he asked, a hint of anger in his voice. Starbright struggled for an answer.

"I'll help you, shall I?" he said sarcastically. "You're not there because you either won or lost. And guessing by the fact that your helmet's off, I'd say you lost."

"Um, well, I'm sure there's some way we could…" she tried to say but Mephiles cut her off.

"You failed me Starbright and for that, I'm going to keep our little deal!" he threatened. Now fearing for her life, Starbright began to back away before turning tail and running. She came out of the shadows but Mephiles sent a purple orb into her back. She fell to the ground and the time demon grasped her by the neck as he dragged her up.

"Let's see how you cope with death this time!" Mephiles cried as he drew his claw back. He was about to strike when a black blur knocked into him, releasing his grip. As Starbright fell to the floor, she glanced at her saviour. Shadow was standing in front of her in a defensive stance.

"So, ready for Round 2 are you?" asked Mephiles.

"You bet. Let's end this!" Shadow roared, throwing a Chaos Spear at the demon but Mephiles effortlessly dodged it.

"You're losing your touch" he mocked, sending out a torrent of mini clones. Shadow began to throw punches left and right to keep them away but they were only a distraction. Mephiles rushed forward and shoulder barged into Shadow. He then grasped him by the neck and threw him behind him.

The black hedgehog flipped back up, only to receive a punch to the face from Mephiles. Shadow stumbled and was unable to defend himself from the kick to the stomach. Mephiles proceeded to beat the crap out of him, not hesitating at all, before jumping over him and smashing his foot into Shadow's back, knocking him towards Starbright.

"Shadow!" she screamed as he tried to push himself up but Mephiles had done quite a number on him. He was badly bruised and had a small cut above his right eye.

"It's time I ended this once and for all!" declared Mephiles, as he edged closer towards the damaged hedgehog. Suddenly, Starbright jumped in front of Shadow, her arms wide open.

"I'm not going to let you do that!" she cried.

Mephiles chuckled slightly. "How cute! Gerald would be proud." Shadow glanced upwards in shock at the mention of his creator. "I'll just kill you both right now!"

Starbright was clearly scared but she stood her ground as Mephiles began to charge up a powerful orb of darkness. "Shadow, I'm so sorry" she whispered.

Mephiles now held a purple orb that was probably twice his size. A smirk appeared in his eyes as he aimed it.

"Farewell, Shadow the Hedgehog! Oh, and you too, Starbright" he said.

Mephiles fired the orb, forcing Starbright to shut her eyes. But, suddenly, Silver jumped in front of her and caught the orb before throwing it back. Mephiles was hit by his own attack and was sent back. The rest of the heroes rushed up and helped Shadow up.

"Are you OK, Shadow?" asked Sonic.

"I'm fine" was the response.

Amy suddenly turned hostile towards Starbright. "What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything" she responded.

"As if we're supposed to believe you" Amy accused.

The heroes then saw Mephiles stumble back up. "You will pay for that!" he said angrily.

"Sorry, Mephiles. But your plan ends here and I refuse to work for you again!" Starbright declared, pointing at the evil being. But Mephiles seemed to find this funny.

"Ha ha ha! So what? It's not as if Shadow will ever accept you again! You betrayed him! If Gerald was here, he'd be ashamed!" he roared.

"What's the professor got to do with this?" Shadow asked, confused.

"Oh, that's right. You don't know" Mephiles remembered. "I think it's time you learnt the truth." A sadistic look appeared in his eyes as he turned his gaze towards Starbright.

"The girl you see before you is someone who was supposed to be dead. I defied all logic and brought her back as how you see her now!" Mephiles explained.

"Stop that!" cried an annoyed Rouge. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me put it this way. She was once a young girl who wished to see this planet. But a rare disease kept her from this dream. She lived with her grandfather and her best friend until she was killed due to her involvement with Project: Shadow" Mephiles told them.

Shadow was the first to understand and soon, everyone else realised. Their eyes widened and the mouths were agape.

"You don't mean…" began Tails but Mephiles interrupted him.

"Yes. She is Professor Gerald's granddaughter, Eggman's cousin and Shadow's closest friend. She is Maria Robotnik!"

"LIAR!!!" cried Shadow. "That can't be true! It can't!" He refused to believe it but the look on Starbright's face confirmed this. "It… can't."

"It is Shadow. I'm so sorry" Starbright, now revealed to be Maria, sadly told him. Suddenly, Shadow blacked out.

* * *

The black hedgehog woke up to find himself in the medical ward. Sonic, Silver and Omega were all there as he opened his eyes.

"Hey, there Shadow. Glad to see you up" said Sonic.

"What happened?" Shadow asked, still slightly dazed.

"Well, after you fainted, Mephiles left" explained Silver. "We had to drag you back here."

"Where's Maria?" Shadow asked.

"She is currently with Rouge, Amy and Aqua outside" Omega told him. Without hesitation, Shadow jumped out of the bed and rushed out.

* * *

Outside, the three girls were all talking to each other when Shadow showed up.

"Oh, Shadow. You're up awfully quickly" stated Rouge.

"Since when did you care?" Shadow retorted, hostility clear in his voice. This prompted the bat to storm off. Shadow then turned his attention to Maria. She had changed her outfit to a blue and white skirt in a similar fashion to Amy's. She wore white gloves and blue boots to match. She also had blue sleeves.

"I can see who picked that outfit out" Shadow joked, glancing at Amy.

"Well, that old suit of hers just didn't suit her" Amy said. "Anyway, I think you two deserve some time alone. C'mon Aqua."

The two girls left, leaving Shadow and Maria alone. An awkward silence passed by before Maria wrapped her arms around Shadow.

"Oh, Shadow. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me" she sobbed as Shadow hugged her back.

"It's OK. Mephiles used you. It wasn't your fault" Shadow told her solemnly. He pulled back to get another look at her.

"I just can't believe you're alive. But how did…" he started but Maria interrupted him.

"Mephiles did this. I don't know how but it seems he can do anything" she explained.

"Tell me about it" said Shadow. Maria let out a slight giggle. This was the first time she had felt happy in a long time. Just by looking at her smile, Shadow could tell it was Maria.

"Listen; let's put this experience behind us. It's time you got to see the world you always wanted to see" said Shadow, prompting another smile from the blonde hedgehog. As they walked off hand in hand, Shadow failed to notice the small frown that appeared on her face.

* * *

Meanwhile, Chrono's small group were scouting the park. To the naked eye, it would seem they were taking a nice walk. But this was far from the truth. They were analysing the entire park for anything that looked out of place or odd.

"Ugh, we've been touring round this place for hours and still we've found nothing!" moaned Zero.

Havoc rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest, will ya? We've got to find out who's behind all this."

The two tanukis glanced back at their comrades bickering before Crisis stopped them. "What's that?" he asked, pointing towards a giant dome that had strange lines running across it and was coloured a very dark blue. The group of four became interested and marched forward.

There was a young man with flaming red hair who was sweeping outside the building. He was clearly a janitor of sorts.

"Excuse me" asked Chrono, feigning politeness, "But what is this building?"

"This isn't anything yet" the janitor explained. "It's currently in production but it will be the park's main attraction after the tournament's over."

"May we take a look?" Chrono asked but the janitor was quick to respond.

"Nobody is allowed inside. It's under lock and key" he answered.

Chrono thanked the man and the team left. "So, what do we think?" he asked the others as they walked away.

"I think it's obvious somebody doesn't want us in there" Crisis deduced.

"Then let's return to the hotel. We can form a strategy from there" Chrono told them. They readily agreed.

* * *

The scene shifts to that night. Nothing exciting had happened really. Shadow spent most of his time with Maria, telling her about what he did and how he and Sonic and the others stop Eggman's plans. They had decided to not let the doctor know. He'd freak out.

At the current time, Sonic was in the medical ward. He had just visited Shade who he had left with Knuckles and walked past Marisa. She was still badly hurt from her fight and Larcen hadn't left her side. Sonic thought now was the best time when there weren't many people about.

"Hey Larcen" Sonic called in a friendly tone.

The dark blue hedgehog gave him the death glare before saying "If you're here to gloat then get it over and done with."

"No, I'm not here to do that. I wanted to apologise for taking your necklace. Marisa told me how important it is to you" the blue hedgehog explained.

Larcen didn't answer so Sonic took in a breath and asked the question he'd been meaning to ask.

"So, Larcen. You and Marisa are good friends, right?" he asked.

"Of course. I found her all alone when she was 12" began Larcen. "I felt sorry for her so I let her tag along. We've been close friends ever since."

"How close?" asked Sonic.

Larcen raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Sonic gulped. "Well, I mean… Do you have certain… feelings for her?"

Larcen now got what Sonic was saying and threw a punch that Sonic was expecting so he ducked.

"You sick bastard!" he roared. "I would never…"

No. Listen pal" Sonic told him, suddenly confident. "I've seen you two and you clearly love her yet she doesn't know. Admit it!"

There was a slight pause before Larcen turned away, seemingly upset. "Fine. I admit it. I've always felt this way. But, it's wrong. I shouldn't love her."

Sonic began to feel sorry. "Hey, it's OK. There's nothing wrong with being in love."

"Have you failed to notice that we're different species?" Larcen asked, sarcastically.

Sonic thought about this then, something came to his mind. "Hey, I'll tell you a little secret. I was almost in the same position as you."

"You were in love with a human? Who was it?" Larcen asked. His question was answered when Elise walked in.

"Hello you two. I came to see if Marisa was OK" she told them.

"She's still asleep. I'll tell you came to see her, your Majesty" said Larcen. As Elise walked off, he noticed Sonic nodding his head towards her. Larcen was suddenly aghast.

"Wait. You and… the Princess?!" he gasped. Sonic nodded. "B-but, does she know?"

"Of course. And, she loved me too" Sonic told him, leaving him more dumbstruck. "But we agreed that it wouldn't work out, so we decided to stay friends. And I bet that Marisa holds some small feelings for you. I advise that you let her know sooner rather than later."

Sonic then proceeded to leave but Larcen stopped him. "Sonic." He turned to face him and Larcen held out his hand.

"Thanks."

Sonic smirked before shaking his hand. "Anytime."

* * *

In the hotel, Shadow and Maria were still talking. At the moment, they were in Shadow's room with the lights off as they gazed out at the stars.

"They're so beautiful" said Maria as she gazed at them.

"You always said the world was beautiful from up there" Shadow pointed out.

"Well, I think everything in this world is beautiful" Maria responded.

"Everything?" Shadow asked.

"Not just physically. Everyone has an inner beauty if you ask me" the blonde hedgehog said.

Shadow smiled slightly. "I always missed our talks on the ARK. It's truly a miracle you came back" he told her.

Maria blushed slightly, turning to face him. They stared at each other for what seemed like eons until they began to move closer to one another. They closed their eyes as the gap between their lips got closer and closer. They were almost touching when Maria pushed herself away.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this" she said, tears beginning to appear in her eyes.

"What?" Shadow was in disbelief. "Why?"

"Shadow. I'm not who you think I am" Maria said. "I'm… a clone."

Shadow's eyes widened. "A clone?"

Maria sadly nodded. "I'm not the real Maria. What Mephiles had done was combined Maria's blood with hedgehog DNA and made me. He taught me everything about Maria and you. So much so that I began to think and feel like her. And that's when I began to love you."

All this information was too much for Shadow. He shook his head. "So what if you're a clone? You're still Maria in my eyes."

Maria shook her head again. "No, Shadow. I am not and never will be her. Besides," she continued, with a slight smile on her face, "You don't really love me."

"What? I do, I…" Shadow started to say but Maria put a finger on his lips.

"I know what you're gonna say and I'm telling you that your love for me is in your head. Not your heart" she told him.

"Then what does my heart say?" asked Shadow.

"I've seen you and that bat girl. Rouge, is it?" Maria asked, causing Shadow to reel back slightly. "I know you broke up with her but deep down, you still care for her. And she feels the same about you."

Shadow looked ready to argue but what she said seemed to make sense. Now that he looked at her, she wasn't the Maria he knew. While he felt a twinge of sadness, he still managed a smile.

"You're like a guardian angel" he complimented.

"Thanks, Shadow" Maria replied, before getting off the bed and leaving. Before she closed the door, she said "Goodnight Shadow. And remember, listen to your heart."

She closed the door, leaving the black hedgehog alone with her last words. Shadow looked at the stars once more before letting out a stray tear.


	39. The SemiFinal

**Update! R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 39

Last time, Starbright was revealed to be a clone of Maria Robotnik. She and Shadow became quite close but Maria told Shadow what she was and that he still loves Rouge. Also, Chrono's team discovered a building where they were refused access and Larcen confessed to Sonic that he was in love with Marisa.

* * *

It was the following morning and everybody was already seated in the stadium. Shadow had been awfully quiet but nobody seemed to notice. They hadn't been given leaflets since there were only four fighters left who were all dealing with something.

"Now that I know who the competition is, this should be a piece of cake" smirked Sonic.

"Don't get too cocky" Knuckles told him but Sonic wasn't paying attention.

Blaze was having to deal with Silver, who wasn't too pleased with her fighting.

"Silver, calm down. I'll be fine" she told him but he wasn't listening.

"Blaze, you had your bones shattered by Chrono, followed by a savage beating from Crisis! Who knows what'll happen to you today!" he protested. Blaze couldn't help but groan.

Emily meanwhile was being reminded of what she was up against by Alan. "OK, Sonic's super quick, Blaze is a pyrokinetic and Marisa is a mage skilled with spells" the tiger explained.

"Marisa knows fire magic, right?" asked Emily. "Then my best bet would be against Sonic but he's too fast. Oh, I'm done for!"

Alan rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter if you lose as long as you try. And I fought Sonic in the first round and he won't try and win cowardly so you've got a fair chance."

Emily smiled and thanked the tiger for the advice. Elsewhere, Larcen had found Marisa. She looked nervous.

"Hey, Marisa. Are you OK?" he asked.

The young girl shook her head. "I'm far from OK. I've seen the other three in action and I don't think I stand a chance. I can still feel the bruises I got from that Starbright girl" she said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Larcen frowned slightly. He had to break her out of this. "Come on, Marisa. You're not gonna win if you give up before you start. You have to go out there and show whoever you're up against that you mean business" he told her.

A small smile appeared on Marisa's face. "Thanks, Larcen. You always know what to say." She then pulled the hedgehog into a hug, causing him to blush. Before he could say anything, the commentator's voice sounded throughout the arena.

"Attention, ladies and gents! We're down to the final four! Sonic, Blaze, Emily and Marisa!!!" he blared, causing everyone to cheer. "Therefore, could Sonic and Blaze please wait in lobby 1 while Emily and Marisa wait in lobby 2!"

The four stood up and made their way to their respective lobbies. The semi-final had begun!

* * *

In the first lobby, both Sonic and Blaze sat on the chairs as they waited to be called out to the arena.

"Hey, Sonic" Blaze spoke up. "Good luck out there."

"You too. I noticed Silver was slightly worried about you" Sonic mentioned.

"Oh, never mind him. He should know I can take care of myself" Blaze replied. A few minutes later, a young woman with chestnut hair came towards them carrying a tray with two cups on it.

"Can I offer you two a beverage?" she asked. The two nodded and they were handed a cup each. Sonic gulped his down whilst Blaze sipped hers for a while. Suddenly, the commentator's voice blurted out.

"Our first match is Blaze VS Marisa!"

"That's me!" Blaze cried, taking one last gulp from her cup and taking off. She bounded into the arena to meet up with Marisa. The teenage girl seemed awfully nervous.

"I wish you the best of luck" said Blaze.

"Thanks" Marisa responded. "And I'm sorry."

"For what?" Blaze got her answer when Marisa fired a wind spell that knocked the lavender cat off her feet. "Oh that's how you want to play?"

Blaze jumped forward and swung her foot round but Marisa ducked the attack. The cat landed and tried to attack but Marisa had covered her hand with thunder magic and sent it into Blaze's stomach. The cat was sent flying back but she managed to land on her feet.

"Not bad" she commented, "But now it's my turn!"

Blaze began to spin as she conjured a fiery tornado to surround her. She then zoomed towards Marisa who didn't hesitate to dodge it by jumping to the side. But Blaze seemed to be in control and she changed course. However, she went past Marisa, leading her to think she missed. But Blaze was in fact going round her, causing a ring of fire to surround her. Blaze stopped spinning and jumped into the ring.

"Haven't got anywhere to go, have you?" Blaze grinned, knowing she now had an advantage. Marisa however wasn't going down without a fight. She fired a darkness spell that Blaze managed to dodge. Marisa panicked and began to fire spells left and right. None of them hit and Blaze managed to strike her foot across Marisa's face, knocking her to the ground.

Blaze launched at her again but Maria struck out with her feet to knock Blaze away. The two girls flipped themselves back up before they both sent a fireball at each other. The two collided and exploded, causing smoke to cover the arena. Nobody could see what was going on. Suddenly, kicking sounds could be heard from the smoke, followed by a few flashes of light. Then a huge wind kicked up to reveal two badly battered girls. Marisa seemed to be worse off, since she was covered with scratches. The wind had also blown away the ring of fire.

"Give up?" asked Blaze.

"Never!" cried Marisa before flinging another lightning spell at Blaze. The cat managed to dodge it but Marisa quickly followed up with a fire spell that hit near Blaze's feet, sending her into the air. The red haired mage then performed a wind spell to keep Blaze up in the air as she charged up a darkness spell. The wind spell eventually stopped, dropping Blaze but before she hit the ground, Marisa fired a torrent of darkness that seemed to burn Blaze as she was sent hurtling across the ground. She didn't get back up.

"Um, are you feeling OK?" she asked. Suddenly, Blaze sprung up and sent a fireball into Marisa. She was knocked back and was forced to roll on the floor as the clothes caught fire. Blaze stood over her, panting.

"Sorry, but it looks like I've…" she started to say but she began to choke and was forced to her knees as she tried to retch something up. Marisa stared at her and suddenly reeled back in disgust as Blaze coughed up a hairball.

"Oh my God!!!" she screamed as Blaze began to choke again. Medics were soon on the scene and quickly took Blaze away. Silver followed them as the commentator announced "Blaze seems to be unable to continue, making Marisa the winner!"

Marisa waved slightly to the crowd as they cheered and medics came for her as well. Larcen had joined them to make sure Marisa was OK.

* * *

In the lobby, Sonic had seen Blaze get taken away. He could hear her retching. He glanced at the two cups and something in his mind clicked.

"Silver!" he called out to the white hedgehog. Sonic grabbed Blaze's cup and handed it to him. "Get the doctors to look at this. I've got a feeling whatever was in there caused her to be like this."

"Wow, for once you come up with something clever" replied Silver as he took the cup. "The planets must be aligned or something."

"Shut up" was all Sonic said before he heard the commentator say "Now it's time to see who will face Marisa in the finals, it's Sonic VS Emily!"

The two blue animaloids entered the arena and faced each other down. They shook hands as Sonic wished Emily the best of luck.

"Thanks, Sonic. But be warned" she told him as she took up a fighting stance.

Sonic smirked at her enthusiasm and took a stance as well. The air turned silent before the two dashed forward and began to throw punches at one another. It looked like they were in a stalemate until Emily charged up her energy claws and swiped at Sonic. But the blue hedgehog saw it coming and moved his body to dodge each attack.

Emily jumped back for a second before charging at him. Sonic ducked under the attack and kicked straight up, his feet coming in contact with Emily's gut. She was knocked into the air and Sonic followed her by using his Homing Attack. As he bounced off, he swung his foot down, sending Emily crashing into the ground.

He landed perfectly but Emily caught him by surprise by lunging at him. She landed on top of him and tried to slam the paw into his face but he moved it to the side before head butting her. She recoiled from the hit as she held the nose. Sonic began to spin on the spot before dashing into her. The two soared across the arena before Sonic uncurled and kicked her off into the wall. She tried to get back up but she slumped down.

"Emily can no longer fight, making Sonic the winner!" the commentator cried over the cheering. Sonic helped the fallen cheetah up.

"Hey, you nearly had me back there. Good work" he complimented.

Emily smiled in a sign of thank you before medics came for her. Armand followed them to make sure she was OK. Sonic chuckled over the sight of all the girls being followed. He began to exit the arena as the commentator said one last thing.

"Be sure to come back at 8.00 tonight as we will finally determine who will be the winner, Sonic or Marisa!"


	40. Getting Ready

**We're approaching the end! Oh boy! R&R!**

**Sonic and co owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 40

Last time, Sonic and Marisa won their fights and are now against each other in the finals. However, Blaze lost due to coughing up hairballs, leaving Sonic suspicious.

* * *

Roughly 10 minutes had passed since Sonic beat Emily and the heroes had met up just outside the arena. Silver had decided to get Omega to examine the contents of Blaze's cup. The white hedgehog himself was just returning from checking up on her.

"She's gonna be fine, fortunately" he told the others.

"That's good to know" said Sonic. "Now, Omega. Just what was in that thing?"

Omega began to beep and spin. "Analysis reveals liquid contained special virus created to cause vomiting" he explained.

Tails began to hum in thought. "It sounds like as if someone made it specifically for cats, namely Blaze" he deduced.

"But, who would want to spike Blaze's drink?" asked Cream.

Cosmo decided to speak up. "Maybe they didn't want Blaze to lose. Maybe they wanted Marisa to win!"

Maria gasped "That makes sense! When I was fighting her, something stung me, causing me to get distracted!"

"You don't think the same thing will happen in Sonic's fight?" Amy asked.

After hearing this, Sonic realised something. "Guys, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go and see if I can find out more about this" he said before taking off.

* * *

In the hotel, Chrono's team were forming a plan. So far, they had decided that when the final match was occurring, they'd break into the ominous building since hardly anybody will be there. But Zero pointed out a problem.

"How are we gonna break in without alerting the guards? And I'm sure it's not gonna be left unguarded anyway" he said.

Havoc agreed. "He's got a point. It would take an expert group of thieves to get in."

"Thieves, eh?" murmured Crisis with a toothy grin. "I know just the guys!"

* * *

Back with Sonic, he had finally managed to find who he was looking for. "Larcen!"

The dark blue hedgehog was talking to Kera as Sonic called to him. After bidding Kera goodbye, he walked up to the blue hero.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I've got a feeling someone is rigging the fights to make sure Marisa wins" he told him.

Larcen's eyes widened slightly. "Are you accusing me?" he asked, slightly angered at this.

"Well, who else would it be?" Sonic responded, staring the other hedgehog down. Larcen was about to retort but a thought suddenly dawned on his mind.

"What is it?" Sonic asked, who had noticed Larcen drift off.

Larcen seemed to have a mental battle with himself before speaking. "OK, I'll tell you. Marisa was invited to this tournament."

"What?!" Sonic gasped.

Larcen nodded. "She wasn't interested at first until it said that her mother would be here."

Sonic raised an eyebrow before remembering what happened when Marisa fought Starbright.

_Flashback_

"Seriously, you have no chance in winning. Just go home!" Starbright cried. It almost sounded like she was pleading.

Marisa, who was gasping for breath, replied "I'm… not leaving… without her."

_End Flashback_

"Marisa's mum vanished a long time ago" explained Larcen, who had noticed the expression on Sonic's face. "She's spent nearly her whole life looking for her. Once she got that invitation, her heart nearly leapt out of her throat."

"So, why hasn't she revealed herself yet?" asked Sonic, referring to Marisa's mum.

Larcen shrugged. "Maybe she'll do it after the tournament's over. So I suggest you watch yourself if she is rigging Marisa's fights."

Sonic nodded in thanks before leaving. Could Marisa's mother really be responsible for Blaze's loss? Could she even be behind the entire tournament? A lot of questions were going through the hero's head.

* * *

Elsewhere, Crisis was searching high and low for somebody. He needed to find them quick so they could understand the situation. As he walked past the casino area, he spotted them counting some loot.

"Jet!" he called out to the green hawk. Jet seemed to jump and hide the cash behind him.

"Crisis! Uh, how's it going?" he asked nervously.

Crisis sweat dropped slightly. "I'm not gonna turn you in" he said bluntly, prompting Jet to sigh in relief.

"Well, what do you want then?" he asked.

Crisis quickly explained the situation to them and then asked if they'd like to help. It didn't take long to get an answer.

"No," Jet replied. "I get nothing out of it so why should I bother?" he continued, turning his back on Crisis.

"You seem to forget that you said you owed me one after I beat Cesare" Crisis smirked.

Jet turned back to the tanuki slowly. He seemed slightly annoyed by this.

"Come on Jet" moaned Wave. "It would be interesting to know who is behind all this."

"Yeah, boss. And maybe we can find some more loot" Storm suggested.

With both his team mates up for it, Jet sighed. "Fine, we'll help."

"Good, but don't tell anyone else. We need to keep this as secret as possible" Crisis told him.

"You seem to be doing a bad job of it."

The four darted round to see Eggman standing there with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"How did we not see him there?" wondered Jet as Crisis drew his sword.

"How long have you been there?" he demanded.

"Long enough" smirked Eggman. "And I wish to help."

"WHAT?!" everyone gasped.

"What do you get out of it?" asked Wave.

"I'm just as interested as how this place came to be. Whoever is behind it must be a genius" he said, before clenching his fist and shaking it. "And I will not be bested in that field!"

Crisis mulled it over. Eggman was intelligent and could be useful. And we wouldn't betray them since they could easily beat him up.

"Fine, you can come as well" said Crisis. "Now, let's hurry back to the hotel." Soon, the new group headed back to finalize the plan.

* * *

Several hours later, night time approached. Blaze was able to get out of the medical ward and Shade had decided to join them. They were all seated outside on a group of tables as the stars sparkled overhead.

"Isn't this romantic?" squealed Amy, who began to scoot up next to Sonic. He began to try and push Amy away, much to everyone's amusement.

Knuckles and Shade were ignoring this as they gazed up to the heavens. They sat there in silence before Shade spoke.

"Knuckles, you've been very watchful of me these past couple of days" she said. "Why is that?"

Knuckles began to blush slightly. "Uh, I just care about you, that's all" he replied quickly.

"You care for me in what way?" Shade asked, trying to pry something out of the red echidna.

"Well… Uh… You see… I, uh…" Knuckles stammered but he never finished the sentence. Soon, the two found themselves staring into each other's eyes. They began to edge to one another before Cream accidentally sneezed, bringing them out of their trance. They quickly turned away from each other, both blushing like mad.

Shadow was also quiet and ignoring Amy's attempts to hug Sonic. He noticed Rouge was sitting by herself with Aqua. He glanced over to Maria who nodded, as if to remind him. Taking her words into account, the black hedgehog made his way towards the bat. He cleared his throat to grab their attention. Rouge was clearly not happy.

"What do you want, Shadow?" she asked.

Shadow simply glanced at Aqua, who got the message. "I'll just leave you two alone" she said, a slight smile on her face. She gave a quick thumbs up to Shadow before leaving.

"Rouge, I… wanted to apologise" he said.

Rouge folded her arms and turned away. "A bit late for apologies, isn't it?" she told him. But Shadow wasn't one to give up.

"Rouge, I know I shouldn't have overreacted like that. And I shouldn't have exploited you" he told her. He truly sounded apologetic, which Rouge caught on.

"Well, I shouldn't have tricked you at the beginning of the fight" she said. "I guess I should apologise too."

She turned back to face Shadow and the two soon found themselves staring at each other once more, just like in Soleanna. Rouge seemed to break into a small smirk before kissing Shadow, which he gratefully returned. The others noticed this and they all smiled as well.

"Glad to see those two have sorted it out" Tails said cheerily.

Maria was also smiling and she whispered "Well done Shadow." Suddenly, a booming voice was heard across the park.

"Attention everybody, it's time for the final round! Could Sonic and Marisa make their way to the arena?" the commentator blurted.

As Sonic walked towards the arena, a serious look appeared on his face. At the same time, Marisa was on her way to the stadium as well and Chrono, Jet and the others were on their way to the mysterious building. They were all thinking the same thing.

"Let's do this!"


	41. The Grand Finale

**Whew, this is a long one. Hope you enjoy! R&R!**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 41

Last time, Sonic found out that Marisa had been invited to the tournament and went when it said her long lost mother was there, and that she could be rigging her daughter's fights. Also, Crisis asked the Babylon Rogues to assist him and his team in breaking into the mystery building, with Eggman tagging along. Shadow also apologised to Rouge and the two made up. Now, the final round was about to begin.

* * *

Everyone was sitting in the arena, waiting impatiently for the final match to begin. The stands were almost packed were it not for a few missing people (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Eventually, the commentator's voice blurted out.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We've come a long way but now, it's time for the final round of the Tournament of the Stars!" he yelled, followed by a deafening cheer from the crowd.

"Only two remain and here they are! The supersonic hero who has protected us all from evil, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic's friends and family cheered as much as they could when he sped out into the arena. Sonic gave his traditional wink and thumbs up, causing a few more people to cheer.

"And the young mage who has fought her way to be here, Marisa Harmon!"

Larcen, Kera and several others began to cheer for her as she walked into the arena. She looked quite nervous but so did Sonic.

"These two will now duke it out to see who is worthy to win the seven Chaos Emeralds!" the commentator reminded everyone. "But enough waiting, let the final battle commence!"

Sonic and Marisa walked up to one another and shook hands. "Good luck, Marisa" said Sonic. "I'm sure you'll do fine!"

"Thanks, but be warned" Marisa replied, a smirk on her face. "I may just surprise you."

Sonic returned the smirk and got cocky. "Oh really? I'd like to see you try." Suddenly, Marisa struck out with her foot, smacking Sonic in the head. He staggered back, clutching his now bruised forehead.

"YOU BOOTED ME IN THE HEAD!!!" he yelled.

"I told you I'd surprise you" Marisa giggled.

Sonic growled slightly before charging forward, with Marisa following suit.

* * *

Meanwhile, a guard was patrolling outside the ominous building when he noticed Wave standing on her own.

"Excuse me miss" he called out. "Why aren't you watching the final match?"

"Oh I just wanted to admire the lovely stars in a peaceful environment. It's almost enough to put one's mind at ease" the swallow explained. There was a long silence, causing Wave to get irritated.

"I said, it's almost enough to put one's mind at ease!" she yelled.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Suddenly, the guard's head was knocked off by Storm's fist, exposing stray wires from his neck.

"Wow, he was a robot" Storm muttered. Soon, Chrono, Crisis, Jet and the others appeared.

"OK, Jet. Work your magic" said Crisis. A superior smirk appeared on the green hawk's face as he walked up to the door and examined it for a while. He noticed a control box and turned to Wave.

"Would you do the honours?" he asked. Wave opened the box and looked at the wires.

"Hm, I could cross wire these two but then again… I suppose I could… But there's also…" she murmured to herself, irritating the others. Eggman was the first to snap.

"Oh for the love of… Let me" he said. He took one look at the wires and pulled one out. The door opened. "Easy as pie" he smirked as he entered. The others just stared as they followed. Unknown to them, several pairs of eyes were watching and they all thought the same thing.

"Got him!"

* * *

Back in the arena, Sonic had just swung his foot round but Marisa ducked it. She retaliated with a fire spell but Sonic backflipped to avoid it. He then used a Spin Dash into the young girl, knocking her over but she quickly got back up.

"Now I know how you lasted this long" commented Sonic.

"Thanks, you're not half bad yourself" Marisa replied.

"Have you forgotten who I am? I'm Sonic the Hedge…" the blue hero started to say but Marisa cut him off by throwing a thunder spell at him which he dodged in time. "That wasn't cool!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Chrono's team were making their way through the building. So far, they had just been walking down a straight passageway. The only rooms they want past showed several robots being made and there were also maintenance robots had mopped the floors. They didn't pay attention to them.

"This is weird" said Zero. "This building is huge but there's nothing in here."

"Don't worry, Zero" Havoc said. "We should find something soon."

"I'm afraid that won't be happening."

The group darted round to find Metal Havoc standing there. Havoc immediately got into a fighting stance.

"What are you doing here you copy?!" he demanded.

"Obviously, to destroy you! With my plans to obtain the emeralds ruined by that blue feline, I've decided to just do what I really want!" the robot copy explained, raising a claw.

Havoc turned to the others. "You guys go on! This is my fight!"

The others were hesitant at first but Eggman had already left so they followed. Zero was the last to leave. "Good luck, pal" he said before leaving.

Havoc then faced his copy down and darted at him. MH was able to fire a blast of lightning at him, sending Havoc back. The hedgehog wasn't one to give in though and sent a Chaos Spear at the duplicate but he effortlessly dodged it.

Havoc tried another frontal assault but MH slammed his fist into his opponent's face. Havoc fell to the floor but MH picked him up and slammed him into the wall and began to choke him. During the fight, they failed to notice a few more figures go past.

"At long last, I'll finally be rid of you!" MH roared, showing signs of slight madness.

"Never!" Havoc coughed. "I've won before and I'll win again!"

"Ha! Look at you! What hope do you have?" MH questioned.

Suddenly, a blast of blue lightning struck MH, causing him to drop Havoc. The hedgehog turned to see none other than Metal Sonic. MH was shocked as well.

"What the hell is that?" he gasped.

"I'm Metal Sonic" the robot introduced himself. "Now, stand aside so I can find the person who's behind this!"

"What a coincidence" said Havoc as he got up. Metal Havoc glanced at the two as they took up fighting positions.

"So, you're aligned with him? Then you shall die too!" he cried rushing forward. Metal grabbed MH's claws and sent a lightning blast through his body. He then shoved him back, allowing Havoc to smash his hell into his copy's gut. MH was resilient and got back up.

"Looks like he'll be a challenge" smirked Metal. "About time!"

**

* * *

**

The Arena

Sonic ran circles round Marisa as she fired numerous fire spells at him. "Stand still!" she cried, the adrenaline rushing to her head.

"And get fried? No thank you!" Sonic replied before jumping to do a Homing Attack. Marisa was quick and launched a wind spell to blow Sonic away. He soared across the arena before crashing into the wall.

"Ah, son of a…" he stopped himself in the nick of time before zooming straight at Marisa. He rushed past her and the wind that followed knocked her up into the air giving Sonic an opportunity to spin into her. Everyone who was watching was in complete silence, mentally cheering, so they could take in everything.

**

* * *

**

Unknown Building

The rest of the group were still making their way along the seemingly endless passage.

"I hope Havoc will be OK" said Crisis.

"He'll be fine" Chrono said, clearly not caring. "Right now, we must focus on the task at hand."

"Leaving people behind again, Chrono?"

The tanuki stiffened at the voice and turned to see Alexander. He had a sinister smirk on his face.

"What are you doing here, you sick reptile?" he asked, drawing his sword.

"Just to see how my old friend was doing" Alexander said. "Oh, and a rematch!"

"Fine! If it's another ass kicking you want, be my guest!" Chrono snarled. "Guys, go on without me! I'll take this guy down on my own!"

"Chrono, are you sure?" asked Crisis.

"Positive!" Chrono replied. "Now, go!"

Nobody hesitated but as they left, Storm took one last look. Chrono had already charged at Alexander but the conniving snake was easily sidestepping the attacks. At one point, Chrono swung his claymore down but Alexander dodged and stepped on it.

"Not so tough now, tanuki!" he sneered as he punched Chrono in the snout. He then drew a gun out and aimed at Chrono.

"This should be satisfying!" he smiled before firing. But to his shock, Storm had stepped in front of Chrono and took the bullet. Thankfully, it only went into his shoulder.

"You stupid bird! I told you to leave!" Chrono yelled.

"I wasn't about to leave you behind. Normally, I would want to pound your face into the ground. But this snake knows how to manipulate and surely two heads are better than one" Storm explained.

Chrono was surprised at first. He had nearly killed the guy but now he's saving him. "Fine, you can help" he said, as he got up.

Alexander laughed suddenly. "What good is this fat turkey gonna do?" he asked.

He seemed to have struck a nerve as Storm cried "I'm not fat. I'M BIG BONED!!!!" With amazing reflexes, he sucker punched the reptile in the face. He then lifted him into the air and pile drived him into the ground. Chrono winced slightly as he watched.

"Looks like Alexander found out what torture's like" he said to himself.

**

* * *

**

Arena

At the moment, Sonic had just slammed hi foot into Marisa's gut, knocking her back but she fired a light spell that blinded Sonic.

"Hey, I can't see!" he cried, unable to defend himself from the fire spell that was sent at his feet, knocking him into the air. As he fell down, Marisa fired a darkness spell upwards which catapulted him higher. The young mage then stepped aside as Sonic crashed into the ground.

"Give up yet?" she asked but Sonic whipped round and kicked at her legs, knocking her over.

"Not by a long shot!"

**

* * *

**

Unknown Building

Crisis, Jet, Wave, Zero and Eggman trudged along. With their numbers depleting, they were on their guard for almost anything.

"I hope Storm will be OK" said Wave.

"Well we can't dwell on that now" stated Eggman.

"Hey, that guy's my friend and while he may be thick, I care for him!" Wave retorted.

"This is coming from the girl who couldn't open the door" the doctor sneered.

Wave was about to clobber him with her wrench when Jet grabbed her arm. "Wave! Can you hear that?" he asked. Everyone stood still as they listened. Then a voice broke the silence.

"You're sharp, hawk!"

Suddenly, Cesare and Tagio dropped from the ceiling. "What do you two want?" growled Jet.

"We never got a chance to have our own little bout" said Cesare. "So, I'm challenging you to see who the better tribe is!"

"Bring it on, you Lunar Trash!" Jet accepted, drawing his fans.

"Hold on, Jet!" said Crisis, getting his own sword out. "Two on one isn't exactly fair!"

"If you wish to die with him, then so be it!" sneered Tagio.

"Wave! Keep moving! Don't let anything else stop you!" Jet ordered the swallow. Wave was hesitant but after looking back at what's happened so far, she nodded and followed Zero and Eggman.

"Now, it's time to die, Jet the Hawk!" Cesare screamed, lunging out with his sword. Jet dodged the attack and sent a mini tornado out with his fans but Cesare cut through it. The evil crow tried to swipe at the hawk with his sword but Jet used the metal part of the fans to block the attack.

"Looks like we're in a bit of a stalemate!" grunted Cesare.

Jet smirked. "Well, at least it proves you're Rodrigo's son!" Jet insulted. Cesare was angered by this and recklessly charged forward but Jet jumped over and sent a kick into the crow's back.

Crisis was currently blocking every attack Tagio threw at him. "I'll admit you're quick footed" complimented Tagio. "But I'm better!" Suddenly, he jumped on Crisis's sword and kicked Crisis away. With his only weapon gone, it seemed he was done for. But he still had a trick up his sleeve.

"If you're better, then can you beat this?" he cried before surrounding his wrists with black flames. He rushed at his opponent and began to swipe at him. He eventually got a hit and Tagio's clothes were set alight, forcing him to roll across the floor, attempting to put them out.

"Oh I've got to get a shot of this" Crisis sniggered as he pulled a camera out of nowhere.

**

* * *

**

Arena

Sonic and Marisa were both out of breath and both sported several bruises. However, both were still standing and neither showed signs of backing down.

Strange, thought Sonic. Nothing has happened to help Marisa win. Either they're confident or they've got something in mind.

His thoughts were interrupted when he had to dodge another fire spell from Marisa. He then dashed forward and sent a punch across her face. At first she recoiled, prompting Sonic to think he'd broken her nose or something.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" he cried out but Marisa spun round and fired a wind spell that literally blew Sonic away. "Oh, you sneaky…" he muttered before noticing the determination in Marisa's eyes. "She must really want to see her mother again" he said to himself. "But there's still something wrong about this." His thoughts were cut off again when He jumped over a thunder spell and slammed his heel into her head.

**

* * *

**

Unknown Building

Wave, Eggman and Zero had now reached the end of the passageway and found dozens of screens that showed security footage. On one of the screens was the fight between Sonic and Marisa.

"What is this?" asked Zero.

"The answer to our questions" stated Eggman as he began to tap on the keyboard. He soon got access to some files which he opened. As the three stared at the contents, their eyes widened.

"We've got to tell Sonic about this!" Eggman gasped.

"But who came up with this idea?" Wave wondered.

"Uh, guys?" Zero called over. "Look at that!"

The other two looked over and saw the echidna pointing at something. It was some sort of a launch bay with a docking station and standing at possibly a hundred feet was what could be made out as a giant robot.

"Holy…" Zero began to say when he was suddenly electrocuted from behind and knocked out. Wave ran up to the fallen echidna but was also stunned and knocked unconscious. Eggman turned round and saw the face of the attacker.

"You!" he gasped before he met the same fate. The figure then proceeded to press some buttons on the keyboard as it laughed maniacally.

Throughout the whole building a strange gas was emitted. Jet and Cesare were in another stalemate was they drifted off, followed by Crisis and Tagio. Storm was busy breaking Alexander's back when he too fell asleep. The snake just happened to be under him and Chrono was also subjected to it. Havoc had also just nodded off but both Metal Sonic and Metal Havoc were still standing.

"It's a good thing sleeping gas doesn't work on robots" Metal pointed out before two lasers came out of nowhere, shutting down the two robot clones.

**

* * *

**

Arena

Sonic and Marisa stared each other down, neither one intent on making a mistake. Suddenly, Sonic rushed forward and began to spin round Marisa, causing her to be lifted up into the air. Sonic then went into his ball form and slammed into her as they soared through the air. But Marisa was able to fire a few thunder spells that hit Sonic. The two were basically throwing attacks at each other until the wind died down, dropping them both. The two just lay there. Everyone inched forward to see who would get up.

"Come on, Sonic!" Amy screamed.

"Marisa, get up!" Larcen cried.

Time seemed to slow down when suddenly, one pushed themselves up. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of the Tournament of the Stars… MARISA HARMON!!!"

As if on cue, the whole crowd exploded into roars of applause. Marisa, despite being tired and weak, waved to the crowd with a smile. She caught Larcen's eye and he winked at her.

Meanwhile, Sonic had just pushed himself up. When he saw Marisa had gotten up before him, he went up and shook her hand.

"Well done, Marisa. You clearly deserve this" he said.

"Thanks, Sonic" the red head replied. Then the commentator's voice began to blurt out.

"Well, we'd like to congratulate Sonic for making it this far and being such a good sport," he said. "But as we all know, Marisa has won the Chaos Emeralds!"

The crowd cheered again, making Marisa seem slightly embarrassed. "But, Miss Harmon here has also won something that's even better!"

The crowd became confused and began to talk to one another. Marisa however seemed to understand and was shaking with joy.

"Marisa Harmon, you have won…" the commentator paused, putting everyone on edge. Suddenly, a glass case burst from the ground and trapped Marisa.

"The chance to assist me in taking over the world!" the commentator screamed, before laughing evilly. Suddenly, a battalion of robots swarmed the arena. They looked similar to the Egg Pawns but they were black in colour and looked far more menacing. The people in the crowd screamed as they attempted to leave en mass. But all the fighters immediately jumped into the arena. Larcen ran straight up to Marisa's case.

"Marisa! Don't worry! I'll get you out of there!" he told her.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. "Oh what now?!" moaned Strike. Then, the ominous building opened up to reveal a hulking robot that flew above the arena. It bore a striking resemblance to the Egg Emperor (Sonic Heroes) only it was black, had red shoulder pads and carried a menacing sword.

"Eggman! He was behind it after all!" growled Knuckles.

"But then who's that?" asked Cream, pointing at the cage in the robot's other hand. It contained all the people that had infiltrated the building. They had quickly recovered and Eggman was at the very front.

"Sonic! Save me!" he cried.

"What is going on around here?!" cried Blaze.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Princess Blaze?"

Everyone darted up to see what looked like Eggman's Egg Mobile float down. Inside it was someone that made Sonic and Blaze gasp in horror. They were only able to say two words:

"Eggman Nega!"

**

* * *

**

CLIFFHANGER!!! Don't forget to review!


	42. Warriors United

**Hooray! Update!**

**Sonic and co. owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 42

Last time, Sonic and Marisa competed in the finals, with the young mage winning. But she was then imprisoned in a glass case before a giant robot appeared holding Chrono's team. This was followed by the appearance of the true villain, Eggman Nega!

* * *

Sonic and Blaze stared in horror as their arch enemy floated in front of them.

"Surprised?" he asked sarcastically. "I thought you would be!"

"How is this possible?!" cried Blaze. "You were arrested and prosecuted!"

Ah, if only" Nega chuckled. "Yes, I was arrested and charged and thinking it was all over, you used the Sol Emeralds to bring you to this world" he began to explain.

"But you overlooked one thing! By royal order, everyone is given a fair trial. Therefore, a witness was needed. Since I always operated away from the gazing eyes, you were the only one to witness my plans!"

The penny finally dropped, leaving Blaze distraught. "So, I was needed there to put you away!"

"Exactly! With no witness, I was let off. I then found the Sol Emeralds and did the same thing you did. I must say that raccoon was determined not to give it away" Nega sneered.

"Raccoon? You mean Marine?!" Blaze screamed. "If you've hurt her…"

"Oh don't worry. She's still alive. I didn't one to leave a trail. They've probably only just found out" he chuckled.

"But how did you get the Chaos Emeralds?" asked Tails.

"Have you forgotten? The emeralds like magnets, so I was easily able to track them down" Nega smiled. "I had already created special boxes to keep them in so they couldn't rip up the universe, before you ask" and as if to prove it, Nega showed them two wooden boxes. He flipped the lids open to show both sets of emeralds.

"However, I knew from past experiences that these alone wouldn't help. I needed more power. I then read a missing report on one Louise Harmon."

At the mention of her mother, Marisa's eyes shot up. "My mum? Where is she?!"

Nega shrugged. "I don't know. She covered her tracks well. But when I found out that she had a daughter who was a mage, I knew what I had to do."

"You invited her to the tournament on this park, which I guess you built!" Shadow deduced.

"Exactly, but I needed to make sure a tournament was occurring, so I set it up for real" Nega told them. "I would also get to see your faces when I take over this planet!" He began to laugh insanely.

"I still don't get why Marisa?" Amy asked.

"Well, being a mage, she has control over several elements. Many mages don't know that therein lies a dormant power which can level entire cities! Now that I have her and the emeralds, everything will be mine!"

He then floated towards the capsule containing Marisa and smirked. "It's such a shame you'll never find her."

Marisa, clearly angered by this, lashed out and tried breaking the glass. Nega could only laugh. "Oh, she's got some fight in her! I like that!"

"Then you're gonna love me!"

Everyone turned to see Armand whip out his laser sword and slash it at Nega, who quickly moved his Egg-o-Matic out of the way. He seemed slightly frightened by the purple tiger.

"Novak!? No wait. You're Armand Novak! Ha ha ha! I must say, when I saw your name on the list I was surprised. How is Tobias?" Nega jeered.

Armand growled and leapt at him, but Basil got him in an arm lock. "Easy, Armand. Don't do anything reckless" he said.

"I suggest you listen to your friend. You don't want to end up like your father" said Nega. "Now, I have a world to conquer!"

Nega then floated to the head of his robot (which we'll call the Nega Emperor) and went inside. He then inserted the boxes containing the emeralds into two different slots on his control panel. Suddenly, the robot began to vibrate as it glowed brightly.

"It's absorbing the power of the emeralds!" Blaze cried.

Then, the stomach of the robot opened up and a robotic hand grabbed the case Marisa was in, dragging her into the robot.

"LARCEN!!!" she screamed as wires connected to her prison and began to suck her dry of her energy.

"MARISA!!!" the dark blue hedgehog rushed forward but was knocked back when tremors shook the entire park.

"Now what?" moaned Silver as the night sky was covered in clouds, lightning flashed through the sky and a huge crack just appeared in the air. It got wider until there was a gaping hole in the sky.

"What is that?!" cried Aqua.

"It's the emeralds" said Tails. "Nega must be using their power to break the foundations of this dimension. If he continues, he can bend reality to his will!"

"Then we need to stop him!" Sonic cried, suddenly wincing.

"No, Sonic. You're in no condition!" said Amy.

"Even so, we are surrounded by a battalion of robots" Rouge pointed out.

"Then let's tear them up!" exclaimed Knuckles, cracking his namesakes.

"We'll help" said Gale, as he and his crew took fighting poses. Soon, every fighter who was there got ready for what would be an epic battle. A few who thought they'd best stay on sidelines dragged Sonic to safety. One Nega Pawn aimed its laser rifle at Sonic but Knuckles punched it away as it fired. The stray fire struck the Nega Emperor's left hand, causing it to drop the cage holding Chrono, Eggman and the others. It broke apart on contact with the ground.

"We're free!" cheered Storm.

"Maybe so, but we still have these mechanical nuisances" said Chrono.

"In that case," said Cesare, "Let's rip them to shreds!"

The group charged forward to assist except for Eggman, who tried sneaking away until Larcen grabbed hold of him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he snarled, causing the rotund doctor to gulp.

* * *

Alexander was punching and kicking his way through the robotic hoard, sending them into their comrades. He then jumped in-between a few and spun round with his gun sending off several rounds. None of them stood a chance. He eventually stopped but only to send the butt of the gun into another pawn that tried to jump him.

"Pathetic" he sighed.

Emily and Alan were fighting robots in all directions, whilst talking.

"So that Nega guy is the one Armand has been after?" asked Emily as she slashed across one robot's torso.

"Looks like it" replied Alan as he kicked one into another. "Which means he's big trouble. Stay alert!"

"Please, Alan. I can look after my…" the cheetah started to say when Alan launched a lightning bolt into a robot that had a chainsaw raised above Emily's head.

"Self?" Emily finished as Alan smirked.

Dusk seemed to be having a hard time. With the moon blocked, there were barely any shadows, forcing her to use her quick wits. She was attempting to fight off one robot but it was able to block her attacks before shoving her back.

"These things are much tougher than the stuff Eggman churns out" she said to herself. She then noticed that one robot behind her had a laser rifle and, using her agility, she flipped over it as it fired, destroying the first one. The umber hedgehog then landed on the second one, bouncing off of it and leaving to fall over.

"But still not too bright."

Tagio was busy slicing up robots as they charged at him. He barely had to move as they ran at him. "These things bore me. I think it's time I showed them how a true warrior fights!"

The Lunar Rogue then rushed forward, swinging his sword in a wild flurry. Once he finished, the robots simply fell apart. He smirked at his work but one robot had sneaked up behind him and smashed its fist across his head. Disoriented, he was open to attack but Storm jumped in, picked up the robot and threw it to Wave who swung her wrench like a baseball bat, knocking it into several others.

"I didn't need your help, scum" spat Tagio.

"Well, we didn't need to save you!" shouted Wave.

"Uh, guys. Bigger problems" Storm muttered as more robots ran at them

Jet and Cesare, meanwhile, were forced back to back. "I'd never thought I'd see the day I helped you, hawk" Cesare commented.

"I'm as surprised as you are" said Jet. "But still, no harm in trying!"

Cesare smirked as they both dashed forward, the crow slashing at the robots with his sword whilst Jet slammed them away with his fans.

Zero, Havoc and Metal Havoc had been forced against the wall. Zero and Havoc were smashing away anything that got close while MH dealt with the weapon holders with his electric attacks.

"These things just keep on coming!" moaned Havoc, who was getting exhausted.

"Well, we can't give up now!" cried Zero, jabbing his fist into another one. Suddenly, a robot with a bazooka appeared and fired at the trio. MH however drew his gun and shot the missile before it hit them, taking out the surrounding robots.

"Thanks" said Havoc.

"Don't. If anyone gets to kill you, it's me" the robot copy replied before tearing through another robot.

Damien and Mario were also trapped in a corner. Mario had tried to slow down time but his left arm had suddenly seized up, preventing him from fighting, leaving Damien to batter away the machines.

"There's too many!" he said to himself. "How am I supposed to…" The answer suddenly dawned on him. He seemed downcast but he had no choice. "Listen here," he began to say, "I'll let you out as long as you hurt the robots, no one else."

"Fine, I need to do something!" the voice in his head growled. Suddenly, Damien erupted in a flash of purple light. In his place was a dark purple wolf with eyes to match. He was wearing the same attire as Damien.

"Listen up, meatbags!" it roared. "Nightshade is back!" The wolf then rushed forward, ripping one robot in half before discarding the pieces to smash up more of them. With each one he destroyed, Nightshade had a toothy grin on his face.

Armand was firing his lasers at the many robots, attempting to keep them at bay but more and more just kept coming.

"I'm getting really sick of you guys!" he cried, drawing out his sword and pulling off his Laser Sword Stars, taking out a large amount of the robots. He was unaware of the ones behind him but fortunately, Basil showed up and blasted them away with his water cannon. They slammed up against the wall before shutting down from all the water in their circuitry.

"Nega _really_ needs to step his game up" the fox smirked.

Kera was busy swiping away at the many robots that surrounded her. One robot latched onto her sword, forcing her to slam it down into the ground to crush it before using its remains to knock away the other robots.

"I really need to take care of these things" she said, the crest on her sword turning red. She then slammed the sword into the ground, sending a wave of fire out from it into the robots surrounding her, incinerating them. She looked quite pleased with herself before swinging the sword behind her to strike another one.

Mathias, Amelia and Blitz were surrounded as well. The white wolves were combining their magic and arrows to keep the robots at bay but they were still coming in swarms.

"Blitz, hurry up!" screamed Amelia, as she fired a thunder arrow into one.

"Almost…" the cat said, focused on something. "Now!"

The wolves then jumped behind him as Blitz released a giant ball of dark energy at the robots, obliterating them, leaving nothing behind.

"Can you teach me that?" asked Mathias.

Gale's crew seemed to be having an easy time. Gale was kicking away robots with ease, drinking in between strikes.

"This is way too easy" he said to his friends.

"Easy for you too say!" cried Thorn as he sent a fireball into a herd of them before whipping round to save Gale from being chopped up by an axe wielder with an ice spell.

Meanwhile, Wrist was sending his fists straight through the robots as if they were made from paper. One charged at him but the echidna grabbed it, swung it over him and smashed it into the ground. Kyira was running all fours as several robots chased after her. She ran towards a wall before jumping off of it, over the robots as they crashed into it.

"These things are a push over" she told Wrist. "I say we end this now!"

The echidna nodded, grabbing Kyira's arm before spinning her around as she cloaked herself with her demonic aura. Wrist then let go, sending the demon fox through a bunch of them, leaving claw gashes in their armour, reducing them to nothing.

Axel was facing off against one robot with a sword, parrying its blows with his own but he was having trouble trying to hit it. He then managed to knock its sword away and slice it in two.

"Is there any real challenge?" he called out. He then found a small battalion of them in front of him. He gulped slightly but the robots' attention was diverted by a whistle from Strike.

"Hey, Axel. Check this out!" he called as he and Aqua stood next to each other. The light blue hedgehog then shot out a blast of water at the robots, with Strike sending electricity down it. As the water hit the robots, the combined force caused them to blow up in quick succession.

"Thanks, bro" Axel said, quickly realising what he said. Strike had already heard and suddenly looked downcast. "We're not brothers, remember?" he said before rushing off to fight some more.

Mighty, having told Ray to hide, was knocking away the various robots as they charged at him.

"These guys are really ticking me off" he moaned.

"Then let us be of assistance."

Suddenly, several robots just fell apart. Mighty was confused until Espio revealed himself. Mighty gave him a thumbs up until he saw one robot point a gun at him.

"Watch out!" he cried but before the robot fired, Vector came from behind and crushed it in his jaws before spitting out the remains.

"Uh, I've got oil in my mouth!" he groaned.

As Espio and Mighty rolled their eyes, Charmy randomly appeared. "I'm here to help!"

"Uh, you're a bit late, Charmy" Vector told him, causing the bee to pout. Suddenly, another band of robots appeared all with guns and fired at the four. Fortunately, Chaos appeared and absorbed the bullets. The robots backed away slightly before the water being sent his fists through them, smashing them against the wall.

Amy was relentlessly smacking robots into others with her hammer but it didn't take long for them to apprehend her.

"Let me go you bolt heads!" she screamed, trying to free herself. One robot brought out a buzz saw and edged it closely to her face. Suddenly, a fishing line tangled round her and pulled her out of the robots' grip. She landed on an umbrella, belonging to Big.

"Thanks, Big" she said, giving her friend a hug.

"It's OK" the cat replied. He then saw the robots marching towards them and got his fishing line out again, only this time; it had an iron ball covered with spikes. He ran it round, destroying anything unfortunate enough to get near.

"Wee, this is fun" he giggled to himself.

Blaze was furiously ripping robots apart with her hands covered in flames. Even when they were destroyed, she still ripped at their wiring till nothing was left. As she was pounding one to pieces, Silver grabbed her fist.

"What are you doing?!" she screamed.

"Blaze, calm down!" the white hedgehog yelled.

"Calm down?! It's my selfishness that caused all this!" she yelled back.

"This isn't your fault!" Silver told her, picking up one robot that tried to interrupt them and hurled it at another. "Also, you can't let it get to you. You need to remain calm. Only then can we win this!"

Blaze took his words into consideration and nodded.

"Thanks, Silver" she said, giving him a quick kiss before sending a fireball behind her, scattering a bunch of them.

Knuckles had just knocked one robot into the air and was using it as a hammer, clobbering the other machines.

"Yeah, not so tough, are ya?" he mocked before one robot came from behind and grabbed him by the neck and threw him into the wall. He slumped to the ground, dazed, as the mechanical being edged towards him. However, Shade snuck up behind it and effortlessly kicked it away before driving her Leech Blade into its side.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks Shade" Knuckles said, interlocking his eyes with hers. She too stared back and both echidnas soon found themselves embracing lovingly, neither one wanting it to end. Unfortunately it did when a robot shot at them and missed. It seemed to sweat drop as the echidnas glared at it before punching it.

Meanwhile, Team Dark and Maria were fighting off a much larger group. Omega and Maria were using their weapons whilst Rouge kicked them away and used her bombs to blow them up. Shadow was getting stuck in, jumping from robot to robot as he destroyed them. He then used some Chaos Spears to paralyze some before spin dashing them.

"I would've thought Nega would make these things tougher" he said to himself, unaware of one robot that aimed its gun at him. The gunshot alerted him and he swung round, only to see that Maria had taken the blow, the bullet hitting her heart. Everything seemed to slow down as she collapsed, a blood stain slowly covering her dress.

"MARIA!" Shadow cried, kneeling down.

"Shadow," she whispered. "I'm not gonna make it."

"No, I'm not losing you again!" Shadow told her, tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm not her, Shadow. I told you that. But promise me…" she said, her eyes closing. "Be happy." Her eyes then completely shut and her breathing stopped. The black hedgehog stared in grief, after having lost his best friend a second time. He then became aware of the robots that surrounded him. His tears quickly dried as his fur turned red.

"You've really pissed me off now!" he screamed. "CHAOS BLAST!!!"

* * *

Eggman and Larcen saw the explosion from where they were. They had taken Eggman's own Egg-o-Matic and were making their way towards the Nega Emperor. Fortunately, Nega hadn't seen them. He was completely fixated with the battle taking place.

"Why do they bother?" he asked. "They know they don't stand a chance. Not while I have Marisa and both sets of emeralds!"

"Not for long!"

Nega turned round to see Eggman pointing a gun at him. Larcen rushed forward, his knife held at Nega's neck.

"Release Marisa!" he snarled.

Nega winced slightly until he saw the power levels on the screen. A sinister smirk crossed his face. "Fine" he shrugged, pressing a button that opened Marisa's glass prison.

"You can also give us the emeralds as well!" Eggman demanded.

Nega nodded and handed them to Larcen in their containers. The two quickly left to go downstairs, unaware of Nega's smile.

* * *

After a few minutes, Larcen and Eggman left the giant robot, with an unconscious Marisa in tow. The battle below them had ended, with Tikal and Ozone having finished healing Sonic. All the fighters gathered in the centre of the arena as they landed.

"Is she OK?" asked Kera.

"Her pulse is weak" said Larcen before turning to Ozone. "Help her, please."

"I'll do what I can" Ozone said.

Suddenly, Nega's voice could be heard echoing from the Nega Emperor.

"Attention, fools!" he bellowed. "My robot has officially drained all of the energy from the emeralds. I've also received plenty of magical from Ms. Harmon. Now, my creation is at full power and ready to carve a new world in my own image!"

"Ha! I've faced tougher things than you!" cried Sonic. "I'll reduce that thing to scrap!"

"Are you insane?!" cried Aleena. "You'll be killed!"

"Mum's right. If he's absorbed all of the emerald's power, there's nothing you can do!" said Sally.

"Just have faith in me!" Sonic told them.

"No way, Sonic" ordered Gale. "I won't let you fight that thing!"

"You still have a lot to learn, dad" Sonic smirked. He then spread his arms out and shut his eyes. Suddenly, the Chaos Emeralds left their container, glowing and began to spin round him. They went faster and faster until Sonic erupted in a flash of light. This light spread across the whole park, taking in Shadow and Silver too.

As it died down, Sonic's fur had turned a familiar yellow, his eyes red and his quills pointed up. His family stood there in shock at the now super powered hedgehog.

Sonic looked behind him to see that Shadow and Silver had undergone the same transformation and they stood side by side.

"Ready to trash that thing?" Sonic asked.

"More than ever!" Shadow growled, clenching his fists.

Silver nodded but before they took off, Blaze ran up to them. "Wait, I'm helping too! It's my fault Nega's here so I can't stand by!"

"What?" Silver gasped. "But you can't use the emeralds!"

Blaze had a cheeky smirk on her face. "Not the Chaos Emeralds" she said before the Sol Emeralds began to glow and surround her. Suddenly, a pillar of flame appeared around her. Once it dispersed, Blaze's fur was pink and her dress red.

As Silver stood there in shock, Sonic said "Say hello to Burning Blaze!"

Blaze stood next to the three hedgehogs as they stared up at the Nega Emperor.

"For the sake of the world!" said Silver.

"For the sake of Maria!" said Shadow.

"For the sake of my people!" said Blaze.

"For everyone and everything!" said Sonic.

"Let's do this!"


	43. Goodbyes

**I'd like to take this moment to thank everyone who sent in OCs for this story as well as the reviewers and those who favourited the story. I hope you've enjoyed this.**

**Sonic and co owned by Sega**

**Strike, Aqua, Axel and Sally owned by me**

**Other OCs owned by respective authors**

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Tournament of the Stars

Chapter 43

Last time, an all out battle between the fighters and Nega's robots took place, as the evil scientist's robot gained power from both the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, as well as Marisa Harmon who was rescued by Larcen and Eggman. Now, Sonic, Shadow, Silver and Blaze turned super and set off to defeat him for good.

* * *

The four heroes shot upward until they were face-to-face with the Nega Emperor.

"Alright, Nega! It's time to settle this!" yelled Sonic.

Nega, however, didn't seem threatened. "Bah, so what if you have accessed your super forms. My robot has enough power to shape dimensions!"

"Well, so do we!" Shadow retaliated, teleporting behind Nega and barging into the robot.

"You little…!" Nega started but in his moment of distraction, Sonic spin dashed into the front of the robot, knocking it back. The four regrouped as Nega recovered.

"Argh, if that's how you want to play it, then so be it!" he cried, charging at the four, sword aimed at them. They managed to avoid the attack but it was followed up with numerous missiles fired from the body of the robot.

"Heads up, guys!" cried Silver, who stopped the missiles in mid air before sending them back but Nega revealed guns on the arms of the robot that shot them down.

"Nice try, hedgehog!" Nega sneered. This robot has been designed to combat against all of your abilities. You have no chance!"

"Please!" said Blaze, rolling her eyes. "Even with the Power of the Stars, Sonic and I defeated you. What makes you think you can win this?"

"Let me answer your question with this!" the scientist replied. Suddenly, more compartments opened up all over the robot that fired numerous lasers at the four. They were forced apart and with the numerous lasers, they were unable to fight back.

"Ha ha ha!" Nega cheered, "That's right, you rodents! Run like the cowards you are! Without your precious teamwork, you can't defeat me!"

* * *

From the ground, everyone else had gritted teeth and clenched fists. "This isn't good!" stated Strike. "Unless they regroup, they can't stop him!"

"Is there nothing we can do to help?" Axel asked.

Eggman was in deep thought. "I've worked with Nega before. He has a habit of making ridiculous speeches and then firing a super powerful weapon, leaving him open" he explained.

"So, they've got to aggravate him enough to get him to use said weapon?" Rouge asked.

"Exactly, but he'll be on alert. This makes things tricky" Eggman told them. "We've got to think of something, quick."

"Uh, guys" Emily called out. "Where's Armand?"

Cosmo took a look around as well. "Tails is missing too!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Tails was carrying Armand up behind Nega.

"Thanks, Tails" the purple tiger said.

"I just hope your plan works" Tails replied.

* * *

Back with the super heroes, Sonic had tried dashing forward but kept getting knocked back by the lasers.

"Ugh, I can't get close enough" he growled to himself. He tried again but curled up into a ball but that didn't help. He was sent back again by a direct hit.

Shadow was dodging the lasers with ease and firing Chaos Spears. However, the spears were blocked by Nega's lasers and the ones that did hit didn't do anything.

"Damn it! Fight, you coward!" he roared. He was still angry about Maria's death. But this was enough for him to get struck by a laser.

Silver had managed to join up with Blaze and was using his psychic shield to block the lasers as Blaze began to charge up a fireball.

"You ready, Blaze?!" Silver asked.

"Almost… now!" Blaze cried. Silver then shot up, allowing Blaze to send the fireball forward at the robot. To their despair, the numerous lasers that hit it destroyed it, leaving Silver and Blaze to get knocked back by the blasts.

"HA HA HA!!! Go ahead, keep trying!" Nega taunted. "It's fun watching you fail."

"The only one who will fail is you!"

Nega turned round to see Armand jump land on the back of the robot, digging his laser sword into its armour. Unfortunately, it had no affect, causing Armand to gulp.

"Whoops."

"Nice try, Novak. But you will fall too. Just like your father" the evil scientist mocked.

Armand growled slightly, forcing Nega to laugh more a bit. "That's right. That's the same look he gave me right before I killed him with my great intelligence."

"Intelligence? You mean the 250 IQ?" Armand smirked, quickly jumping off and being caught by Tails as Nega shook with anger.

"250?! How dare you?! I am the most intelligent man in the universe! For your insolence, you shall die! Say hello to Tobias for me!" he screamed. The Nega Emperor then swung round, stopped the laser fire and opened the stomach compartment. In it resided a large cannon that began to charge up with a cyan blue laser. As Nega chuckled insanely, Tails hovered in front of it, not scared in the slightest.

"Goodbye, Armand Novak!" Nega cried.

But, before he fired, Sonic rammed into him, stopping the laser. "NO!" Nega cried when he realised his mistake.

"It's over, Nega!" Blaze yelled.

"Over for you!" Nega retaliated; prompting him to reveal the mini cannons in the body again but Shadow was prepared and fired a battalion of Chaos Spears which destroyed them.

"That was for Maria, you bastard!" he spat.

"No matter, I still have my sword!" Nega sneered until he realised that it wasn't there anymore. "What the…?"

"Looking for this?" Silver asked, appearing before him with the sword floating next to him.

"You… Give it back!" Nega cried, swinging the fists at the psychic hedgehog who managed to use the sword to block them.

"Sure you want it?" Silver mocked. "Fine, here ya go!"

Silver then swung the sword down, slicing off the hands before slamming the blunt end round the robot's head, causing Nega to feel dizzy. Blaze then charged up another fireball and threw it at the centre, the explosion knocking the robot back and causing it to vibrate violently as electricity sparked out of it. The four heroes quickly regrouped.

"Looks like it's on its last legs" said Silver.

"In that case, we need to take it out now!" cried Shadow.

"Got it, hey Sonic" called Blaze. "Remember what we did the first time?"

"Of course" Sonic winked. "Ok, team. Let's end this!"

The four then shot backwards to give them some distance before charging forward, the three hedgehogs spinning round Blaze. They were soon transformed into a golden fireball. Nega, seeing this, screamed.

"ARGH! Abort! Abort!" he wailed, catapulting his Egg-O-Matic out of the machine as it was struck by the heroes. It immediately exploded, letting out sparkly rainbows that returned to the emeralds and Marisa. Also, the clouds parted, revealing the moon and the clear night sky once more.

"We did it!" cheered Blaze.

"I think not!" They turned round to see a very angry Nega. "You may have won this round, but I swear, I will return to have my revenge!"

"I don't think so" a voice cried. Nega turned to see Tails rushing towards him before flinging Armand like a purple projectile at Nega, knocking him out of his machine. The two plummeted back down only to realise they were over the edge of the park. Armand however was able to shift his movement and land on the edge. Nega wasn't as fortunate. He went straight over the side but Armand managed to grab his sleeve.

"Why did you save me?" he asked.

"You may have killed my dad, but I'm not gonna kill you. That wouldn't make me any better than you. So, I'm just gonna make sure you're locked up for good" the young tiger explained.

As he began to pull him back up, Nega noticed that his sleeve was tearing off. He began to chuckle.

"What's funny?" asked Armand.

"Oh, it's just that, in the end… I get the last victory!"

Before Armand could ponder this, Nega's sleeve ripped off.

"NO!" Armand screamed but it was too late. Nega was already rocketing down, laughing maniacally all the way. The young tiger punched the ground as Basil approached.

"I'm sorry, Armand" he said. "At least he can't kill again."

Armand slowly nodded. "Yeah, but my dad…"

"It doesn't matter. I'm sure your dad would be proud of you for trying to help him" the fox said.

"Yeah, thanks Basil" Armand said.

* * *

Meanwhile, everyone was busy recovering from the battle. A few had already taken their leave. With Nega dead, all the robots had shut down, allowing Tails and Wave to hotwire the plane so it could be used to take everybody home. Rouge had contacted GUN and they sent an aerial ambulance to help the injured. Shadow, who had reverted to normal, watched as Maria was placed in a body bag. Rouge put an arm round him and Omega stood by him.

"She may have been a clone but she was still my oldest friend" the black hedgehog said sombrely.

"It's ok, Shadow. I'm sure she's still happy for you" Rouge told him.

"Thanks, Rouge" Shadow responded, returning the hug.

Meanwhile, Sonic and co were all saying their goodbyes. Sonic gave his mother and siblings a hug each.

"You guys have a safe trip" he said.

"Thanks, Sonic" Aleena said. She then turned to Gale. "I take it you're not coming."

Gale nodded. "Sorry, Aleena. But don't worry. I'll try to visit this time. I swear!" he promised. Aleena smiled and gave Gale a goodbye kiss.

Sally was doing the same thing, only with Mario. Damien, who had returned to normal, stood by tapping his foot.

"I'll try and keep in touch, ok?" Mario said.

Sally nodded. "Of course. See you soon then."

They were about to kiss again when Damien grabbed Mario by the shoulder and dragged him away.

"I preferred it when you were silent" he said.

Tails and Knuckles were giving their farewells to their parents as well whilst Shade stood by.

"So long, son" said Wrist. "Also, you've picked a fine woman."

Knuckles immediately blushed as did Shade but they stopped when they looked back at each other.

"Yeah" Knuckles agreed.

Kyira was busy talking to Tails. "Listen, Kyuta. I need to tell you that…"

"I'm part demon" Tails said. "I kinda guessed. But don't worry. I've got good friends that'll take care of me. And as long as you've got friends, you'll never be alone."

Kyira couldn't help but smile at this and pulled her son into a hug.

Amy was busy saying goodbye to Thorn and Gemini when she spotted Dusk.

"Dusk, over here" she called out. Once the umber hedgehog had come over, Amy introduced her to Thorn and Gemini. Dusk seemed slightly nervous.

"Er, hi?" she said worriedly.

"Hey" Gemini responded. "Guess we're family now"

"I suppose we are" Dusk replied, rubbing her head.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to get used to having two daughters" Thorn stated. Amy giggled slightly and Dusk half smiled.

"Well, if you're ever in Casinopolis, feel free to drop in" said Gemini.

Dusk nodded with thanks.

As Jet and the Rogues were preparing to leave, Cesare walked up to them. "Just remember, Solar scum. We are by no means friends and next time we meet, it will be the end!" he threatened.

"For you maybe" Jet smirked, prompting Cesare to storm off, but the crow had a small smile on his face.

Crisis was busy talking to Chrono who had his eyes fixed on Alexander who was already getting on the plane to leave.

"Let it go, will ya?" Crisis told him. "There's nothing you can do and besides, you won't have to put up with him for much longer."

Chrono nodded silently. "Still, what he said got to me."

"So what are you gonna do?" asked Crisis. Chrono simply walked away.

"None of your business" he said, causing Crisis to sigh.

Havoc and Zero were about to get on the plane when Havoc saw Metal Havoc. "Next time" the robot said. Havoc nodded and got on the plane.

Silver and Blaze were talking about the emeralds, as they still had the boxes.

"What should we do with them?" asked Silver.

"The Chaos Emeralds will scatter once we open the box" explained Blaze. "I'll use the Sol Emeralds to take me back to my world and put them back. Hopefully, they'll be safe this time."

"Hey, you two!" Sonic called out. "Plane's about to leave!"

As Silver and Blaze got on, Kera approached Sonic. "Hey, have you seen Larcen and Marisa?

Sonic shook his head but deep down, he had an idea.

* * *

Elsewhere, Larcen and Marisa were sitting on a bench where no one else was, looking into the night sky. The mage looked tearful.

"Are you ok, Marisa?" Larcen asked.

"No, I'm not. I come all this way, thinking my mum was here, only to find out it was all a ruse by that horrible man just so he could use me" Marisa sobbed.

Larcen slowly put his arm round Marisa to comfort her before finally saying what he wanted to say.

"Marisa, there's something I should tell you" he said. "I need to get it off my chest."

Marisa looked at him. "What is it?"

Larcen began to get nervous again. "Well, we've been friends for a long time now and… Well, I'm… I've gotten… I've developed certain… feelings towards you and…" he stuttered before Marisa interrupted him.

"Larcen, are you saying what I think you are saying?" she asked, her tears having cleared up.

The hedgehog nodded. "Yes, I'm… in love with you!" he said quickly before turning away. Marisa sat there gob smacked.

"Woah, this is awkward" she said.

"I knew it!" Larcen groaned. "I should've just kept my mouth shut!"

"No, that's not what I meant" Marisa said. "It's just that… I don't want our friendship ruined by this. Plus, there's the whole different species thing. But, you admitting that is one of the bravest things I've seen."

"Really?" Larcen asked. "So, you're not disturbed or think I'm disgusting?"

Marisa shook her head. "No, not at all. We'll always be friends."

Larcen smiled and it wasn't long until they were gazing into each other's eyes. They both made sure no one was looking before moving forward and sharing their first and last kiss. They stayed there for what seemed like hours before finally breaking apart.

"Wow" they both said, breaking out into sniggers. Kera then showed up.

"I was wondering where you guys were!" she called out, startling them both. "Come on, the plane's about to leave!" The two quickly caught up to Kera before they headed for the plane.

* * *

Soon, everybody was on board and they set off, Larcen winking at Sonic as they took their seats. Sonic leant back and looked around the plane. People that were once strangers to him were now allies. And always would be. He closed his eyes so he could get some well earned rest but he opened one eye to see Amy glancing at him.

"Oh boy" he sighed as she proceeded to put her head next to his lovingly.

* * *

Back on solid ground, Eggman was walking around a desert area, having parked his Eggmobile. He found Nega's own floating pod but no sign of the man himself. Which was good. Eggman didn't fancy the idea of finding the corpse of a man that fell from hundreds of feet.

"Well, at least I'm free to take over the world again" he chuckled before something caught his eyes. It was a giant temple which looked thousands of years old. It had strange markings on the side. Intrigued, Eggman took out a small device and scanned the temple. The mini computer then showed Eggman some information and he broke into a malicious grin as he stared at it, uttering two words.

"Dark Gaia!"

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed that. Not too good in my opinion for a finale. You've probably guessed that my next story will be an adaption of Unleashed so I hope you look forward to that. If you can't wait, head over to my collab with Babylon Sky Hawk, Sonic Brawl: Twilight Emperor, a Sonic version of Subspace Emissary. Until next time, adios!**


End file.
